Sculptor’s Doric creations on display in Sifnos

Alex Mylona’s works shown in Kastro

By Elias Maglinis - Kathimerini

Observing the creations of sculptor Alex Mylona, one can’t help but wonder why the artist seems to keep her work concealed, or does not exhibit it more often. Mylona does not sell her sculptures. She has even managed to reclaim works she had sold in the past with her own money. Appropriately, a closer look at her work evokes a feeling of independence that reflects the artist’s distain of greater exposure.

“An artist creates. Beyond that, his or her work takes its own path. I see my works as my children. I make no distinctions,” Mylona, a laconic yet approachable 87-year-old artist, told journalists on the island of Sifnos, where an exhibition of her work, titled “Aegean,” opened late last month. It runs through September 22.

The show, held in the village of Kastro at an impressive old building that once operated as a school on the island but is now Sifnos’s cultural center, comprises 11 sculptures created between 1960 and 1997. These strict Doric-like figures blend with the luminous Cycladic landscape.

The exhibition has been organized by the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art (MMST) as a tribute to Mylona, who has entrusted a collection of her works for a permanent show in Athens. The MMST, whose activities also extend beyond Thessaloniki, its home base, nowadays runs the Contemporary Sculpture Museum, which was founded by Mylona after much ado. It has suffered serious operational problems in more recent times.

“The fact that an artist such as Alex Mylona entrusted her works to the MMST stands as ultimate recognition for us,” noted MMST Director Xanthippi Skarpia-Heupel.

Those unable to make it to Mylona’s exhibition on Sifnos will have a second opportunity to view her work at another exhibition being organized by the MMST for next month.

The Sifnos show is the second for the MMST on the island with the support of the island’s municipality and cultural center. “Aegean” follows a tribute exhibition last summer on the sculptor Klearchos Loukopoulos.

Cultural activity on this charming Greek island appears to have broadened. Skarpia-Heupel said the MMST and the Sifnos Municipality were looking into establishing an ongoing collaboration. The island’s mayor opened Mylona’s exhibition. Others in attendance included former Prime Minister Costas Simitis, former MP Tassos Yiannitsis, the architect Mimis Fatouros, and Mylona’s daughter, Eleni Mylona, a distinguished photographer who helped curate the show.