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Eleni Zongolopoulou

Βιογραφικό

Biography

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  • Eleni Paschalidou - Zongolopoulou
    (Constantinople 1909 – Αθήνα 1991)
  • Eleni Paschalidou - Zongolopoulou...

    ...was born in Moda, Asia Minor, on October 26, 1909, the daughter of businessman Konstantinos Paschalidis and Despoina Pappa, a dollmaker.

    She grew up in a cosmopolitan bourgeois household in Constantinople, where a deep appreciation for the Arts and Letters was instilled in Eleni and her three younger sisters: Danae Paschalidou-Nicolaidi, Lili Paschalidou-Theodoridou, and Alexandra Paschalidou-Moreti.

    From an early age, Eleni was drawn to painting—a passion nurtured by her mother, an amateur painter who would later inspire her to pursue art professionally.

    Indeed, Eleni's family carried an artistic tradition passed down through generations. Her own generation—with 56 first cousins—produced numerous artists, the most notable being sculptor Yannis Pappas and painters Eleni Pagkalou and Andreas Vourloumis.

  • At the Zappeion Parthenagogeion of Constantinople

    "...where she began as a student, she was stimulated by a culturally rich environment filled with significant works of art, which helped her cultivate her aesthetic and artistic sensibility."

    By the time she completed her secondary education, she had already resolved to pursue painting. Her command of three foreign languages—French, Italian, and English—proved invaluable throughout her career.

    In 1922, Eleni's family departed Constantinople, their exile unfolding in stages: first to Varna, Bulgaria, then briefly to Thessaloniki, before finally settling permanently in Athens by 1925...

Detailed Biographical Note >>
Βραβεία & διακρίσεις

Awards & Distinctions

1937, Silver Medal, International Exhibition of Art and Technology, Paris

1939, Honorary Diploma for Decorative Banner Design, Greek Pavilion, New York World's Fair, USA

Σχόλια & κριτικές

Comments & Reviews

Frank Elgar, Carreeour, March, 2nd, 1966

ElenaZong. The way this Greek artist animates the surfaces of her works sets rhythms and variations, moving from clear signals to the most delicate meanders of a well-defined form, to the most restrained line—this space is what makes it radiate with a light rich in pulses. The sensitivity she brings to every element, the poetry that emanates from her patiently crafted creations—nothing she does leaves us indifferent. Even when we might wish for a more clearly defined style.

Jean Bouret, Lettres Francaises, February 24th, 1966

I am also bothered by the fact that my colleagues did not speak about ElenaZong, one of the finest Greek painters of our time, who is exhibiting at GallerieMotte and who is somewhat related to Tobey in her refined technique and the secret expression of things.

Jean – Jacques Leveque, Information, February 19th, 1966

The painter ElenaZong creates a dense space in which multiplying geometries unfold and overflow into multiple subdivisions of imaginary juxtapositions, revealing through subtle vibrations a color that is always sensitive.

Barnett Conlan, Pictures on Exhibit, February 1966

ElenaZong, the Greek artist, is exhibiting a collection of her recent compositions at GallerieMotte, many of which are large in scale.

She uses vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows that give the painting a brightness and intensity equivalent to Greek light. Abstract in the form of her work, there is nevertheless a continuous reference to elements such as rain or the seasons, dramatically interpreted.

The construction of these works, through which an inner light seems to flow, is of exceptional sensitivity.

Sotiris Messinis, Venice, November 1964

Compared to the works of 1963-64, in her recent production ElenaZong shows a tendency to more clearly reclaim the object, the physical reality.

Starting from a detailed analysis of the atmospheric elements that had led her to an apparently complete abstraction and, at the same time, to a greater stylistic intensity, ElenaZong is now able to cultivate with more grace and ease the ghosts of her memory.

In a delicate play of proportions and analyses, according to the function of memories that reveals every given naturalistic detail, visions and objects emerge from an indefinite space—those that were halted by its permeability, henceforth transformed into symbols.

And it is this, ultimately, that engages in an autonomy of form in her works, so full of personal confessions.

Jean A. Mazoyer, Saint Germain en Laye, 13.11.65

ElenaZong’s technique arises from persistent explorations and gives an astonishing impression of precision and richness, analysis and intense sensitivity.

The surface of her works is often entirely worked with fine, small brushstrokes that ensure a luminous pulse of alternating intensity.

This writing of careful calm is disturbed by rather impulsive eruptions whose echoes extend beyond their center. ElenaZong’s work concerns us as a testament to an adventure within the realms of memory, the oppression of time, and emotional flashes, all served by a demanding pictorial dialect.

Raymons Cogniat, Figaro, 2.7.64

The Greek painter ElenaZong creates an exceptionally intense space through malleable geometric shapes where both matter and light come into play.

Hans Redeker, Amsterdam (Algemeen Handelsblad) 27.6.64

… But beyond the Biennale, the exhibition also finds a complementary and distinctive interest (next to the Academia) where the painter ElenaZong presents abstract compositions that impress us with an exceptionally sensitive, penetrating, and pulsating life. These compositions are inspired, and despite the style of small repeating motifs, they are by no means dry or sterile.

Φωτογραφίες

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