Maria Louizou (Greece) is a sculptor whose practice centres on forms and rituals of catharsis. She designs and constructs large-scale sculptures, into which vocal performers enter and sing. She composes contemporary lamentation vocals, a feminine music form referring to mourning rituals. These forms manipulate normal gaze dynamics and shape new vocal tones.

During her residency at Delfina Foundation, Maria will continue her recent explorations into electronic compositions, which she has been integrating aspects of from into her existing interests in live vocals. She plans to use her own voice as the main tool, and experiment with loop segments. Furthermore, during her stay in London, she intends to explore the vast costume collection at the V&A Museum, which holds a special interest to her as inhabited sculptural spaces for the body, and also the collection of Classical sculpture at the British Museum, considering the representation of the female body in Art History.

Maria holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in sculpture from the Athens School of Fine Arts (A.S.F.A). She studied theory of music (classical and electronic) in the Athens Conservatoire. Recently she was awarded the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Artist Fellowship by ARTWORKS (2020). Her research The Body in Contemporary Sculpture, Greek Tradition, and Polyphonic Composition won a grant by the Greek Ministry of
 Culture in 2020. Her work has been shown in New York at Robert Wilson’s 2019 annual benefit Tabula Rasa as well as in Beijing, where she was awarded the prize China Taiyuan International Youth Metal Sculpture 2018. Her work was displayed at the Theorimata 2018 exhibition in the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens. Her second solo show Six Breaths per Minute took place at the Contemporary Art Center Ileana Tounta in 2021, she also presented a collective work in collaboration with Columbia University and the Victoria Square Project as an artist-in-residence in 2021. She is currently artist-in-residence at The Watermill Center 2022 programme, and is the Atelier des Arques artist-in-residence for the 2022 programme.

Maria Louizou was born in Athens and is currently based in Munich, Germany.

WITH SUPPORT FROM

ARTWORKS

RESIDENCY SEASON

Summer 2022

ARTIST’S WEBSITE

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Please note all artist-in-residence biographies are accurate at the time of their residency. For up-to-date bios please visit the artist’s website.