In EXPO Chicago Dio Horia Gallery shares stories from three European Storytellers.
Chicago, 17 September 2019 — In one of her papers about the healing power of storytelling, American scholar Sun Wolf reports that in West Africa, when a person in the village becomes sick, the Healer will ask them: “When was the last time that you sang? When was the last time that you danced? When was the last time that you shared a story?" Sharing stories helps individuals heal, connect and grow. It also binds communities together, building a common history and understanding of the world. In Western popular culture, contemporary storytelling has taken many visual forms, including music video clips, cinema, theatre, illustration, street art and sequential art (comics). For the EXPOSURE section of Expo Chicago 2019, Dio Horia Contemporary Art Platform presents recent work by artists Spyros Aggelopoulos, Javier Calleja and Maja Djordjevic. Coming from different cultural backgrounds, the three artists work with a variety of media and share their fascination with pop-culture aesthetics. Their work is also directly linked to contemporary storytelling: Aggelopoulos’ ongoing series of hand-drawn figures is inspired by traditional Greek shadow-puppet theatre. Calleja’s paintings feature childlike portraits that have the immediacy and intimacy of illustrated children's books. Djordjevic's subject matter is always playful, self-sarcastic and autobiographical, in the sense that she paints her own emotions and experiences. Our curated booth surely has a high entertainment value and immediately draws the viewer in with its attractive colors and friendly imagery. But just like good storytelling, it will also stimulate reflection and encourage thoughtfulness. For us this is also a great opportunity to cultivate the cooperation between three South European artists and we are looking forward to bringing ideas and people together on the occasion of Expo Chicago 2019.