Epitaph

Bia Davou was born in 1932 in Athens and studied painting (1952-58) in the studio of Kostas Eliades. She was a member of the group "Processes - Systems". In the 1960s she produced works that move within the framework of abstract expressionism, with the main elements being the impetuous gestural brushstroke and the investigation of the structural elements of space. At the beginning of the following decade she would give a series of three-dimensional constructions in Plexiglas with juxtapositions and overlays of perforated coloured grids. The technology and use of computers will lead her in the 1970s to minimalist compositions (Serial Structures). From the early 1980s, she would use sail-fabric in various combinations - free in space or as a key element in extended installation-environments. She intervenes in the fabrics she uses in terms of colour, and verses from the Odyssey are often marked, stitched, woven in red thread on their surface. Her sentences contain a strong symbolic content, hinting at the great journey of life and death. She has had twelve solo exhibitions in Athens (most of them at Desmos Art Gallery) and Thessaloniki. In 2008, a retrospective exhibition of her work was held at EMST, Athens. Her participation in group exhibitions and international events was significant: Panhellenic (1957, 1960, 1963, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1987), Paris Biennale (1961), Alexandria (1967) and Sao Paulo (1987), Europalia (Brussels, 1982), etc. She died in 1996 in Athens.