Mrs. Tependris’ homecoming

24 December 2012

Konstantin Kakanias’ muse and alter-ego Mrs. Tependris comes to life and jumps out of her cryogenic chamber, timeless and snobbish as ever, in Kakanias’ new animation film, Tependris Rising. Kakanias’ exhibition is currently showing at the Rebecca Camhi gallery until late December.

As someone who flits between the worlds of fashion and art amongst the beautiful people of LA (where he is based), Paris (that he calls home) and Athens (where he is from), Konstantin Kakanias can best be described as a restless soul. When he breezed in at the Rebecca Camhi gallery in Metaxourgeio, his dog Renzo in tow, he fretted about getting his holiday home on the outskirts of Athens cleaned, was anxious about a set of paintings being stuck at customs four days before the opening, wondered if he could complete a commission to create ceramic plates on Paros before rushing back to LA for a show for jewellery company Vram and work on a beautiful book for Frederic Malle, published by Angelica Taschen. All this, while calculating time zones to call his boyfriend in LA in the midst of our interview. Kakanias concedes resignedly, “The thing I love and hate the most is that I do too many things …and I have no one to tell me what to do, not even Mrs. Tependris.” In return, Kakanias has an impressive body of work to show for all that restlessness and versatility.

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A tale of two authors

26 September 2012

When two friends Kelly Intzides and Vivian Andria, decided to co-write a book replete with colourful personalities and gender-bending, life-altering twists set in their beloved New York, not only did they end up with a very readable book but also with a whole new career.

For Greek Kelly who had lived in Manhattan for 28 years, the idea of the book spawned over dinner with friend and fellow-school mom American Vivian Andria, who had moved to Greece from the US when she was just four, and then back again after University, in 1995. So how did the idea of writing a book together come about? Says Andria, “Writing with another person is a matter of chemistry – you either have it or you don’t. And it certainly cannot be forced. We started this project in jest. We described characters to each other one night over wine and cheese, stretching the limits of our imagination like children. “What if a gallery owner wanted to cater an event? What is she didn’t choose the conventional hors d’oeuvres? What if a renowned art critic fell in love with a cook from Queens, who didn’t even know he was gay? What if his Ukrainian wife became the artist’s muse?”

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