Chrysanne Stathacos

Chrysanne Stathacos (b. 1951) shows five works in the exhibition Every Moment Counts - AIDS and its Feelings. As a witness and friend of several of the participating artists, she has a unique perspective and personal relationship to both the art and the pandemic and we look forward to hearing what she has to say in conversation with one of the exhibition's two curators, Ana María Bresciani.

Chrysanne Stathacos was born in Buffalo, New York, of Greek, American, and Canadian origin. Originally trained as a printmaker, Stathacos combines printmaking, photography, video, and installation in various ways, often creating participatory public art projects. The outbreak of the AIDS epidemic affected her experience of mortality and loss in the early 1980s and through the 1990s. The experience of losing many friends due to AIDS in the mid-to-late 1990s initiated a journey to India and East Asia, where Stathacos became involved with Buddhism and Eastern spirituality, which inform both her art and activism, including her engagement with issues of sexuality and gender.

The works Stathacos shows in the exhibition stems from 1991 to 2020 and are mainly works in which she uses intimate materials such as condoms and spirals, and organic material such as cannabis and roses on her canvases. The repeated patterns transform the materials into poetic compositions.

Stathacos currently lives and works in Toronto, Canada and Athens, Greece.