Artist: Tamina Amadyar
Exhibition title: silent kingdom
Venue: Eleni Koroneou Gallery, Athens, Greece
Date: October 3 – November 30, 2024
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Eleni Koroneou Gallery, Athens
„Yet it may be (…) that there is a zone of silence in the middle of every art. The artists themselves live in it.“
Eleni Koroneou Gallery is pleased to present silent kingdom, the third solo exhibition by Tamina Amadyar. The title of the show draws inspiration from Virginia Woolf’s essay, found in her collection Oh, to be a Painter!. In this essay Woolf reflects on the relationship between the viewer, the subject, and the artist, highlighting the silent dialogue inherent in art—an idea that resonates with Amadyar’s latest works. Engaging with Woolf’s ideas, silent kingdom delves into themes of stillness and openness in both form and content, exploring the tension between silence and expression, and how painting surpasses the limits of language. Amadyar embraces this silence, inviting the viewer into a kingdom of lush and vibrant colors.
Amadyar’s work is characterized by its minimalist approach and its focus on color and light. Color remains central throughout her practice, while shapes subtly hint at spaces and landscapes. For Amadyar, color and landscapes evoke various human conditions, such as stillness, silence, freedom, unease, violence, and hope. In this body of work, she employs bold color fields, ethereal brushstrokes and evocative compositions to capture the elusive essence of inner landscapes. Each piece in the exhibition balances informal elements with representational suggestions, which are also reflected in the titles of her works. By reducing her motifs to their essentials and emphasizing color, materiality, and the presence of emptiness—or silence—Amadyar creates a physical and contemplative visual experience for those standing in front of her large, almost stage-like surfaces. Her works invite viewers to move through the space, engaging the body as much as the eye. For Amadyar, painting is an inherently physical and sensory process, both in its creation and in its appreciation. While she avoids imposing specific interpretations, her works aim to capture something that transcends literal representation, and is rooted in her own experience of moving through and perceiving the world.
In parallel to the paintings, a series of works on paper are also featured in the show. These drawings echo scenes of nature and are painted entirely by the artist’s own hands. The almost sculptural process of molding and shaping thick paint directly onto the surface contrasts with the cautious application of thin paint layers on her canvases, offering a dynamic interplay between sensuality and straightforwardness.
Tamina Amadyar was born 1989 in Kabul (Afghanistan) and studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, by professor and artist Tal R. She lives and works in Berlin. Selected solo exhibitions include: setting the table, Galerie Guido W. Baudach, Berlin (2022); haft paykar, Eleni Koroneou Gallery, Athens (2022); sound of the city, Meyer Riegger, Karlsruhe (2021); making waves, Eleni Koroneou Gallery, Athens (2020); the big dipper, Kewenig, Palma de Mallorca, Spain (2019); It’s a match, Oldenburger Kunstverein, Oldenburger (2019); BIG BLUE SKY, Kunstverein Reutlingen, Reutlingen (2018); 10,000 hours, Galerie Guido W. Baudach, Berlin (2017); She has also taken part in group exhibitions, such as: Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf (2024); Basel Social Club, Basel, CH (2023); Identity Not Proven – New Acquisitions in the Federal Collection, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn (2022); Ars Viva Preis 2022, KAI Art Center, Tallinn (2022) και Brücke Museum, Berlin (2021); Five On Paper, Eleni Koroneou Gallery, Athens (2021); Adrian, George, Peter, Sofia, Tamina., P420 Art Gallery, Bologna (2019); last dance, Autocenter at the KINDL, Berlin (2018); Kunst als Spiegel der Gesellschaft – Werke aus der Sammlung der DekaBank, Schloss Neuhardenberg, Neuhardenberg, Germany (2017); Memories of an elephant, Kunsthaus Essen, Essen (2017); Monday is a day between Sunday and Tuesday, Tanya Leighton, Berlin (2017); You’re just too good to be true, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin (2015). She has received the followig grants: Hooper Projetcs stipend (2015), Helmut E. Kreutzer Stiftung stipend (2013-2014), the Rölfs Partner stipend (2013) and a stipend of Heinrich-Böll Stiftung e.V. (2009-2015). In 2016 she was included in the Forbes list „30 under 30“ and in 2021 she was the recipient of the Ars Viva Preis 2022.
