About

Poka-Yio, SneakerHead

A solo exhibition with new works by the prolific Athenian artist, founder and director of Athens Biennale.

Art-Athina 2022, Booth D1

16–19.09.22

ZAPPEION MANSION, Athens - Greece

“To watch a sparkling-white sneaker stomping on dog-poo is the ultimate metaphor of contemporary life. A spontaneous philosophical revelation- hey! brush clean and keep walking.” - Poka-Yio, 2022

Anna Pappas Gallery (APG) is proud to announce its 10th participation in one of the oldest art fairs in Europe, Art-Athina, and presents SneakerHead, a solo exhibition with new works by Poka-Yio, a prolific Athenian artist, founder and artistic director of Athens Biennale.

Poka-Yio, a self-declared SneakerHead, explores and questions the marketing of sexual desire, today’s urban culture, consumer addiction, and the obsession with objects and symbols that define our self-image, taste and standing.

SneakerHead further delves into a leitmotif that has defined Poka-Yio’s artistic practice, attraction and repulsion in the age of desire. A SneakerHead, a person who owns multiple shoes as a form of collection and fashion adoration, one with a Sneaker instead of a Head. The worshipped accessory becomes an extension of the self, an entity, a contemporary portrait. 

SneakerHead is part of an ongoing series of work that originated five years ago. The exhibition features nine new oil on canvas paintings, a sculptural ‘totem’ comprised of ‘super-sized’ sneakers, and a short video animation.