Kalliopi Lemos’ bold and striking animated video Wasps and Jewels (2023), a part of 'A State Of Acceptance' exhibition at Gazelli Art House in Baku, features the artist’s first twelve unique works sold as NFTs.

About Wasps and Jewels

The new animated video by Kalliopi Lemos, titled “Wasps and Jewels”, uses the artist’s steel sculptures, drawings and digital photographs to create a mesmerising experience for the viewer. Here, Lemos uses the symbol of Wasps as a metaphor to discuss all these aggressive and threatening elements that we might encounter in life and should not ignore them. Through this unusual choreography between wasps and jewels, the artist encourages us to meet the unpleasant experiences with courage and respect and to contrast them with the beautiful things that life can offer.

About Kalliopi Lemos

Sculptor, painter, and installation artist Kalliopi Lemos creates artworks that explore complex sociological and political narratives. The artist has a persistent interest in the ramifications of today’s neo-capitalist and political powers, with a critical area of concern being human rights within patriarchal societies. In many of her works, Lemos references familiar stories, often where women are “keepers” of cherished memories and stories passed down through the generations. Shared memories are a precious inheritance, assuming acute importance during the transition from one significant life stage to another: from youth to maturity. Kalliopi Lemos’s work decisively intends to open a visual sphere of knowledge, perception, and awareness into this reality.

Lemos is Greek-born and London-based. She studied the art of Ikebana for 15 years, and attended The Byam Shaw School of Art, University of the Arts London, Central Saint Martins, where she also pursued post-graduate studies. Lemos’ work is in the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK; Borusan Collection, Istanbul, Turkey; Museum of Contemporary Art of Crete, Greece; British Museum, London, UK; Onassis Cultural Foundation in New York, and the Benaki Museum and the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Crete, Greece, the Bilgi University in Istanbul and in Canakkale, Turkey. Public art placements include Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Yorkshire, UK; New Bond Street, London, UK; Golden Square, Soho, London, UK; Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Greenwich O2 public art installation, UK; DIFC - Dubai International Financial Center, Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Palais de la Porte Dorée, Paris, France and Château des Ducs de Bretagne, Nantes, France. Lemos's film At the Centre of the World (2015) won the Borusan Contemporary Art Collection Prize.

The Plait (2020) by Lemos has been selected and acquired by the Droom en Daad Foundation to be part of the International Sculptural Collection of the city of Rotterdam and is permanently installed in Westersingel terrace. Her work Wooden Boat with Seven People (2011) was on view at Spitalfields Market in London until 2021, the Corset (2017) was part of the Art in Mayfair 2023 and was installed at New Bond Street in London, and her Bag of Aspirations (2019) is currently on view at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Her works Wooden Boat with Seven Snakes (2011) and Grainboat (2004) are on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Crete as part of the museum’s permanent collection.