Ménékratis, Athéna

Technique : Ink on canvas

Athéna Ménékratis is an artist of Greek-Dutch origin born in 1978 in Cannes, France. She studied art and design at the prestigious Chelsea College in London and Middlesex University. She is a multidisciplinary artist who works as a photographer, visual communications designer, and painter in a hyperrealist style. Drawing from her cultural heritage in all its forms (film, music, fashion, post-war artistic movements), she channels her energy and her ideas to create representative contemporary and "Modern Art*. Her cousin, Iris Clert, is a Parisian gallerist and well-known socialite of the international art scene and promoter of contemporary art.

As part of the 64th Cannes International Film Festival, Athéna presented a collection of hyperrealist drawings and paintings for a solo exhibition entitled "Fashion and Acting". The pieces were focused on the theme of cinematic imagery inspired by the 60s and the great iconic figures of that era. More recently, she was chose to paint the portrait of Philippe Bender, the great conductor and artistic director of the French Riviera, as part of a tribute to his life and career. Using inks, she created the piece by personalizing her subject in a style specific to her artistic identity. In her series of portraits such as this one, where the lines are defined by fine calligraphy, she tries to tell the story of each individual she discovers through the unique characteristics of their faces.

* "Modern art is based on the transgression of the rules of classical figuration (impressionism, cubism, surrealism ...). Contemporary art, on the other hand, transgresses the very notion of a work of art as it is commonly accepted. For example, the work will no longer be made by the artist, but will be machined by third parties. The artistic act no longer resides in the making of the object but in its conception, in the discourse that accompanies it, in the reactions it arouses ... The work can be ephemeral, evolutionary, biodegradable, blasphemous, indecent." (From an interview with Nathalie Heinich published in Le Nouvel Observateur about her book Le Paradigme de l'art contemporain)

Group exhibitions

• 2014 - Espace Pierre Cardin, Paris, France
• 2014 - Francesco Smalto's house during the Cannes Film Festival, France
• 2013 - Espace Pierre Cardin, Paris, France
• 2013 - Exhibition "Fashion and Acting" at the Galerie Arista, Cannes, France
• 2013 - Museum of Photography André Villers, Mougins, France
• 2013 - Hotel 3.14, Cannes, France
• 2012 - Barclays Bank, Cannes, France
• 2012 - Espace Pierre Cardin, Paris, France
• 2010 - International Jumping show at Cannes

Solo exhibitions

• 2015-today - Francesco Smalto, Cannes, France (exhibition on the theme of masculine elegance in cinema, big actors dressed by Francesco Smalto)
• 2015 - Les icônes du cinéma, Galerie Arista, Cannes, France
• 2013 - Club des Résidents Étrangers Monégasques, Monaco
• 2011 - Barclays Bank, Cannes, Frances
• 2011 - Galerie Arista, Cannes, France (Special exhibition at the Cannes Film Festival on the theme of elegance and cinematic icons)

Public collections

• London, Dubai, New York, Monaco, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg

Private collections 

• The Monaco Foundation for His Serene Highness Princess Charlène of Monaco
• The Museum of Photography André Villers in Mougins in France