Without my own vehicle - part II (detail)
2006
handcoloured postcards
courtesy of the artist and Eleni Koroneou Gallery, Athens

ALEXANDROS GEORGIOU Greece
ARTSPACE

In 2003, during my second visit to India, I ended up spending 3 months at Varanasi, the holy city of Shiva. It is built on the west bank of the Ganges, Ganga in Hindi, and it's a unique place. I was swimming in the river daily in the morning and evenings. At 5:30 am in the morning and while in the water the sun would rise and I would say a little thank you to the sun, just like the hundreds of Indians who do this every morning as a ritual. They believe that the river Ganga is a Goddess that flows from heaven and so did I believe that Ganga must certainly be a goddess. You see, in the travel guide there is a whole page describing the Ganga at Varanasi and explaining basically that if you step into the river you may die! I don't remember all the diseases they proclaim the river carries. The truth for me was that, exactly because I believed that Ganga is holy, it really had a holy effect on me. I felt 'blessed' swimming in it. Everyday I stepped into the water and everyday I felt a weight being lifted off my chest. I would say a little prayer in the style of "please Ganga don't give me any skin diseases" and get in. One day, while I was crossing the river, swimming to the bank across - now a golden desert since the water was low and a vast area of sand was facing the sun - while I was thus swimming, I realised that that is what spirituality is all about: just because I believed in it, I was not affected by the guide book's forebodings. I thought this experience of spirituality I should try to share...

- Alexandros Georgiou

Background

Born in Athens, Greece in 1972, Alexandros Georgiou currently lives between New York and Athens. He undertook his initial studies in Athens, completing a postgraduate qualification in New York. Solo exhibitions include Cut-outs, Eleni Koroneou Gallery, 2002; Favourite Games, Eleni Koroneou Gallery, 2004; and Without my own vehicle, Eleni Koroneou Gallery, Athens, 2006. Recent group exhibitions include Self-Aboutness, Canal Isabel II, Madrid, 2004; The Gesture, Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, and Quarter, Centro Produzione Arte, Florence, 2005; Jasmine, E31 Gallery, Athens, 2005; Give(a)way: 6th Biennal Exhibition of Visual Art, EV+A, Limmerick, 2006. A key text on his work is the catalogue published to accompany Without my own vehicle.