Duration: 1 july - 10 July 2021

"Atmosphere" is a duo show that was organized in the summer of 2021 in Athens by Anastasia Pavlou and Sebastian Lloyd Rees. Pavlou and Reese shared a studio together from the spring of 2020 until the end of summer of 2021. In that studio, they both developed important bodies of their painting practices, important parts of which were showcased in this exhibition.

The following text was written by Anastasia Pavlou in response to this exhibition;

15- 2- 2021

The choreography of us going to buy materials (for Sebastian and mine studio)

"Usually, we start off by dancing around the issue because we are almost never in the mood to fully engage with it. It almost always happens on a Monday and it is usually the first Monday of every month.

Even though we have been under lockdown since November, for some reason it just so happens that on the first Monday of every month we are able to either walk into or to do a pickup from the store. For the times that we do an order for it to be picked up later, we spend a fair amount of time on the shop’s website. We buy most of our materials from the same shop, which is on Stournari street in Exarheia, and then another one which is right next to it on the same street.

Apart from these two shops, which sell very similar stuff, we don’t share any other shops, really. The other shops that I go to though are fairly close to the ones mentioned before, so we usually hit all of them together in one go. That is, apart from the fabric store where I buy canvas, which is in another direction from the studio but still within walking distance from it. It is not a store that I go to often, but Sebastian often accompanies me if it so happens that he is in the mood for a walk.

When we leave the studio, the first stop is the film store that I go to and which is 10 minutes in a straight line from the studio. Sometimes, we do a small detour, and we pass by this antique and secondhand shop, and we shuffle through the “1 euro” box that sits outside of the shop on a wooden stool. Sometimes, we find interesting stuff in that box, for example one time I found a small ceramic dish by the brand “Royal Copenhagen” which was also a commission by some artist unknown to me. Later, with the help of Sebastian’s mother, we found out that its true value was more than 100 euros. Sebastian was a bit jealous of me for fishing that one out.

From there, we go to the film store. Seb usually stands outside because he likes to observe what happens on the small square in front of the shop. He likes to observe the energy between the people and the passersby.

From there, we go on a short walk to Exarheia. When the stores were open, we would make quick stops at the thrift stores on the main street.
Then we go to the shops that I mentioned earlier, and we usually get oil paint, good quality paper for small drawings (A4 and A3) and big scale paper that we both use for painting (which is 150 x 1000 cm long and 160g or 200g in weight, depending on availability).

Then, the last stop we head to before going back to the studio is the lady that I buy my stretchers from. Her shop is on the other side of the Archeological Museum. If the stretch- ers are big (180 x 160 cm), Seb helps me carry them but if they are small (100 x 70 cm), he just comes to keep me company".