ART ATHINA, September 19-23, 2024

Office of Hydrocommons x ATOPOS cvc, Booth C8

Chloé Royer

Office of Hydrocommons x ATOPOS cvc will participate in ART ATHINA 2024 with a solo booth presentation (C8) featuring the French artist Chloé Royer.

Chloé Royer’s latest series, O, invites the viewer into a nuanced exploration of predatory marine invertebrates like jellyfish and sea anemones, both symbols and living entities, embodying the tension between vulnerability and latent strength. These sculptures, crafted from ceramics, steel, and false nails, blur the boundaries between forms, dissolving species distinctions and offering a subtle reflection on bodies that defy categorization.

Inspired by the fluid movements of the Mediterranean Sea, Royer’s work addresses the fragility of ecosystems and the resilience of those existing at the margins, invoking questions about survival, resilience and transformation.

The overall curatorial approach evokes the concept of the ‘Hydrocene’, as articulated by Bronwyn Bailey-Charteris, a conceptual shift from the Anthropocene to an era where water and its dynamics are central to understanding ecological and environmental change.

The sculptures of the series O were produced in the framework of the International Artist Residency of the Office of Hydrocommons, located at the ATOPOS cvc premises. This program serves as a vibrant hub for international artists to explore the deep environmental and social transformations related to water and the human body. Our residency program provides a space for living, working, and interdisciplinary collaboration, focusing on the complex challenges of the Mediterranean Sea. In the past, we have hosted artists such as Nour Amrani, Maëlle Gross, Camille Pradon, Lily Consuelo Saporta Tagiuri, and Kasia Wojcik, with a new residency announcement coming soon.

Chloé Royer

Born in 1989, Chloé Royer lives and works in Paris. A graduate of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), she explores the metamorphic potential in all things, animate or inanimate, through material transformation and choreographed movement.

Royer won the FahrArt prize in 2021 for “We would survive but without touch, without skin,” a sculpture group installed in Geldern, Germany. In 2022, she held a solo exhibition “Xenophora” on Spetses Island at AKSS Fondation, following a residency at AMA. In 2022-2023, she was in residence at the Fiminco Foundation in Paris and exhibited at the Parvis de la Villette and Fondation Anticipations. In 2024, she presented “Heels over head” at Galerie Loevenbruck and participated in the group show Hiru at the Biennale d’Art Contemporain d’Anglet.

Office of Hydrocommons

The Office of Hydrocommons, curatorial platform and production office delves deeply into critical issues affecting the Mediterranean Sea and addresses these issues on a planetary scale through international participants and allies.

“Hydroresearchers” and “eco-visionaries” from various fields – ranging from the arts, marine biology, and agronomy to urbanism, sports, and activism – tackle challenges such as the sound pollution from seismic surveys, militarization of the Aegean Sea, deterioration of underwater caves, the pervasive pollution from plastics and microplastics due to touristic activities, invasion of alien species, extinction of marine sponges, resurgence of jellyfish and hypersalinity. These environmental challenges are examined in relation to the body – both human and non-human – viewing these entities as integral actors within multispecies collectives.

Conceived and curated by Eleni Riga, the Office of Hydrocommons was initiated through a commission by Vassilis Zidianakis, Artistic Director of ATOPOS cvc, within the framework of #OccupyAtopos and later at Atopos Unbound. The platform continues its aquatic journey, forging new and enduring partnerships along the way!

ART ATHINA opening hours

September 19, 2024: 18:00 – 22:30 (by invitation only)

September 20-23, 2024: 12:00 – 21:00