Yorgos Petrou is a Cypriot born, London based visual artist whose practice spans sculpture, performance, photography, film, and writing to make artistic interventions into sites of geographical, historical, and mythical significance. Petrou’s politically subtle and layered approach to art-making aims to transform theory, reading and understanding into materials that travel freely between the pieces. Their work investigates the relationships between body and land to query hierarchies of value and knowledge. They excavate the materiality of locations for specific cultural and political connotations, engaging with identity formations made via land and body interactions.
Taking an experimental and unconventional approach to a broad range of materials, they use highly specialised soft silicone to make human tissue-like structures, as well as industrial materials and everyday objects to create photo-sculptural installations. By doing so, they seek to distort the form, transform surfaces, and explore materiality and its hierarchy in the context of queer bodies in rural environments. They often engage with the liminal space between Asia, Africa, and Europe and their shared colonial histories by looking at stains and remains on peoples and land, focussing on the archaeological - often fragmented - body as it exists within the earth.
They trained at the Royal College of Art and Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, UK.
contact: petroudotyorgosatgmaildotcom
selected projects
>Like Pots and Waves Break
20 July 2023
Co-commissioned by Fitzwilliam Museum
Supported by Arts Council England
Cubitt, London, UK
>My Past is a Foreign Country, Group Exhibition
8 July - 28 August 2023
Curated by Akis Kokkinos
With Hera Büyüktaşcıyan, Stelios Faitaki, Nikomachi Karakostanoglou, Avish Khebrehzadeh, Maro Michalakakos,
Petros Moris, Dala Nasser, Yorgos Petrou, Aykan Safoğlu, Mounira al Solh, Maria Tsagkari, Abbas Zahedi
DEO PROJECTS, Chios, Greece
>The death and Life of All of Us, performance
Co-directed co-created with Victor Esses
24 - 25 February 2023, Soho Theatre, London, UK
>Doomed Companions, Unsubstantial Shades, Group Exhibition
7 October - 12 November 2022
Curated by Akis Kokkinos
With Ellie Antoniou, Irini Bachlitzanaki, Savvas Christodoulides, Nikos Kessanlis, Karolina Krasouli, Amanda Kyritsopoulou,
Stathis Logothetis, Maro Michalakakos, Yorgos Petrou, Erica Scourti, Stefania Strouza, Antrea Tzourovits
NEON Organisation, The Hellenic Residency, London, UK
>Unfamiliar to Us, Solo Exhibition
With Victor Esses
26 June - 17 July 2021
Text by Benoit Loiseau
Silver Building, Join the Docks Festival, London, UK
>Reset. Instructions to begin in a new present
27 December 2020 - 17 January 2021
Curated by Aina Pomar
With Larry Achiampong, Constanza Alarcón Tennen, Irene de Andrés, Rosana Antolí, Anna Dot, Lara Fluxà, Angel Garau, Marco Godoy, Vibeke Mascini, Josep Maynou, Gabriel Pericàs, Yorgos Petrou, Marina Planas, Guillem Portell, Marijo Ribas, David Rickard, Bartomeu Sastre,
Sümer Sayin, Nora Silva, Pep Vidal, Alberta Whittle
TACA, Palma, Mallorca
Created and performed with Victor Esses
10 - 25 November 2020, digital tour
>Shout Festival, Birmingham
>The Lowry, Manchester
>Cambridge Junction, Cambridge
>Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff
*
16-19 July 2019
CASA Festival
Arcola Theatre, London, UK
*
2 May 2019
Fertility Freedom Scratch, Curated by Tian Glasgow
The Pit, Barbican Centre, London, UK
*
14 March 2019
The Works, scratch night
The Basement, Brighton Dome
*
February & June 2019
Residency at Battersea Arts Centre, London, UK
*
Supported by: Arts Council England, Battersea Arts Centre, The Marlborough theatre,
CASA Festival, The Finnish Institute, Applecart Arts, Cultural Services Cyprus
>Sixth edition of Kingsgate Postal Service
October 2020
With Yorgos Petrou & Nabihah Iqbal
Kingsgate Project Space, London, UK
>I take of places, Solo Exhibition
8-29 February 2020
text by Kiki Mazzucchelli
Kupfer Project Space, London, UK
>(This) precious stone set in the silver sea
Curated by Aina Pomar
With Irene de Andrés, Erola Arcalís, Inés Cámara Leret, Yorgos Petrou, Stéphanie Saadé, Oscar Santillán + Yoko Ono
Copperfield London, London, UK
28 November 2019 - 8 February 2020
Curated by Tom Polo
With Lupo Borgonovo, Leila El Rayes + Justine Youssef, George Haddad, Andrew Haining, Pilar Mata Dupont, Nikos Pantazopoulos
Yorgos Petrou, Joanna Piotrowska, Lisa Radford, Charlie Sofo, Curtis Talwst Santiago, Salote Tawale
ReadingRoom, Melbourne, Australia
Poetry collection from Pilot Press, the independent press founded by artist Richard Porter. Selected by both invitation and open call, Modern Queer Poets features contributions from Eileen Myles, Wayne Kostenbaum and CA Conrad among many others, with two covers by Matt Connors.
>Pivo Research, Artist in Residence
September - December 2018
Pivô, São Paulo, Brasil
>A Real Job is to Make Something
9,10,16,17 March 2018
An AiR project curated by Margot Bannerman and Anna Hart
With Rob Crosse, Rosie Edwards, Mikhail Karikis, Kate Owens, Kate Keara Pelan, Yorgos Petrou, Michael Taiwo, and Ersin Hussein
Lawrence Works, 249-251 West Green Road, London N15 5ED
16 - 24 February 2018
Curated by Helen Michael and Anastasia Mina
Film screening with Ellie Kyungran Heo, Kineret Lourie, Markus Vater, Sam Williams, Yorgos Petrou,
Christian Jaskolka and Helen Michael
Korai Project Space, Nicosia, Cyprus
23 November - 2 December 2017
Exhibition accompanied by a text by Thomas Frangenberg.
The Cyprus High Commission London, 13 St James' Square, London, SW1Y 4LB
>Displacement as a State of Mind
16 - 29 October 2017 | Current
Curated by Charis kanellopoulou
With Ioanna Apostolou, Stella Christofi, Lenia Georgiou, Ismini Haholiadou, Stelios Kallinikou, Demetra Kallitsi, Marios Konstantinides, Eleni Mouzourou, Alexandra Pambouka, Yorgos Petrou, Eleni Phyla, Efy Zeniou
Korai Project Space, Nicosia, Cyprus
7 - 14 August 2017
Curated by Mustafa Hulusi
With Dee Ferris, Stefan Bruggemann, Alexandre Da Cunha, Ximena Garrido- Lecca, Leyla Gediz, Edwin Burdis, Guler Ates, Yorgos Petrou, Olivier Richon, Bedwyr Williams, Polys Peslikas
London, UK
28 January 2017- 28 February 2017
Curated by Elena Parpa
With Andreas Angelidakis, Rosa Barba, Inal Bilsel, Andrea Bruno, Banu Cennetoğlu, Savvas Christodoulides, Marianna Christofides, Marianna Constanti, Elizabeth Hoak-Doering, Haris Epaminonda, Ben Evans and Alkis Hadjiandreou, Eleni Kamma, Lito Kattou, Nurtane Karagil, Lefteris Olympios, Christodoulos Panayiotou, Yorgos Petrou, Re Aphrodite, Efi Savvides, Socratis Socratous, Lefteris Tapas, Marina Xenofontos, Natalie Yiaxi
Cultural Capital of Europe Pafos, Inaugural Events Programme, Pafos, Cyprus
Vol. 6 August 2017
Curated by Loizos Olympios
With Yorgos Petrou, Stella Voskaridou, Chiaki Kamikawa, Marina Kassianidou, Marina Xenofontos, Giorgos Gerontidis,
Dakis Panayiotou, Theodoulos Polyviou in collaboration with Signe Emma under creative platform blør, Elina Ioannou
3 December 2016
Curated by Maria do Carmo M. P. de Pontes & Benjamin Orlow
With Benjamin Orlow, Cristiano Lenhardt, Daniel Shanken, Elena Damiani, Erik Bendix, Yorgos Petrou, Joey Holder, Lu Yang, Molly Palmer, Stefan Sulzer, The Big Head Scientist
Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo, Brazil
23 May - 18 June 2016
Artist in Studio & Presentation
VOLKS, Nicosia, Cyprus
23 October - 19 December 2015
Curated by curated by Gilles Neiens, Lauren Reid, Marie Graftieaux, Nora Mayr
With Ivan Argote, Nancy Buchanan, Distruktur, Viking Eggeling, VALIE EXPORT,
Sylvie Fleury, Lotte Meret Effinger, Yorgos Petrou, Elisa Pone, Jonnine Standish
Insitu Space for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany
>Identalterity: But Still in One Piece
23 June – 30 September 2015
Curated by Theodore Markoglou, Syrago Tsiara, Dimitris Michalaros, Anthi Argyriou, Panagis Koutsokostas,
With Lynda Benglis, Ursula Biemann, Pauline Boudry & Renate Lorenz, Marianne Darlen Solhaugstrand, Yevgeniy Fiks, Kostis Fokas, Hector de Gregorio, Igor Grubic, David Hockney, Deborah Kelly & Tina Fiveash, Majida, Katerina Athanasopoulou, Marilena Aligizaki, Angeliki Avgitidou, Chiara Bertin, Eva Vei Geromichalou, Marina Genadieve, Fred Koenig, Yorgos Petrou, Trix Rosen, Kelly Skoularioti, Manuel Vason, Khattari, Carlos Motta, Slava Mogutin, Natasha Papadopoulou, Antonis Protopatsis, Wolfgang Tillmans, Boryana Rossa – Oleg Mavromatti, Milica Tomic
5th Biennial of Thessaloniki, Greece
16 October 2015
Artist's talk curated by Thomas Kiely
British Museum, London, UK
11-13 September 2015
Instagram Project
@the_breeder_gallery, Athens, Greece
>Parlour Symbolique: Freud and Eros
29 January 2015
Late opening event part of public programme accompanying the exhibition 'Freud and Eros: Love, Lust and Longing'
Freud Museum, London, UK
11 October 2012
Curated by João Laia, London Moving Image Art Fair, London, UK
3 - 31 March 2012
Curated by Lyn Cluer Coleman and Sarah Goodwin,
Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucester, UK
23 November 2011 - 12 January 2012
Selectors : Pablo Bronstein, Sarah Jones, Michael Raedecker
With Marie Angeletti, Cornelia Baltes, Joshua Bilton, Sarah Brown, Savinder Bual, David Buckley, Leah Capaldi,Alicja Dobrucka, Tomas Downes, Peles Empire, Katie Goodwin, Kate Groobey, Noel Hensey, Anna Ilsley,Kim Kielhofner, Minae Kim, Se-jin Kim, Sui Kim, Ute Klein, Hyewon Kwon, Hyun Woo Lee, Ian Marshall,Georgina McNamara, Sophie Neury, Rasmus Nilausen, Nick Nowicki, Marco Palmieri, Selma Parlour, George Petrou, Yelena Popova, Jessica Sarah Rinland, Anne Kathrin Schuhmann, Dagmar Schurrer, Alison Stolwood, Jonathan Trayte, Poppy Whatmore, David Ben White, Lisa Wilkens, Samuel Williams, Rafal Zawistowski
ICA, London, UK
>Modern Art Oxford Shorts Program
10 February 2011
An evening of short films to accompany David Austen: End of Love
Modern Art Oxford, Oxford, UK
18 September - 17 October 2010
Curated by Morgan Quaintance
With Greta Alfaro, Johnny Briggs, Rachel Louise Brown, Tom Clarke, Rebecca Court, Emma Critchley, Jenny Ekholm, Kevin Gaffney, Andrew Lacon, Nadege Meriau, Tom Mills, Yorgos Petrou, Tom Pope, Megan Powell, Anne Shuhmann, Vicki Thornton, Hitomi Yoda
Wolstenholme Creative Space, Independents Liverpool Biennial, UK
>Z-time
28 Apr - 9 May 2010
Curated by Mindy Lee and Yelena Popova
Screening to Accompany Exhibition
Era Gallery, Moscow Young Artist Biennial, Moscow, Russia