P + P = D examines the strategies of the Greek avant-garde of the ‘70s and ‘80s as manifested in the activities of Desmos – one of the first alternative spaces in Athens – and the relationship between artistic practice during that time and present day concerns and pursuits.
Desmos encouraged a different way of perceiving contemporary art that always reflected life itself. Serving as a meeting place for an informed public during the early 1970’s, the two people behind Desmos, Manos Pavlides and Epi Protonotariou, introduced a series of experimental artistic events, rekindling the notion of an artistic avant-garde in Greece.
Desmos renewed the instruments of artistic expression in Greece (body art, performance) and introduced the idea of interdisciplinary collaboration, placing an emphasis on communication and liberating artistic innovation. The works of the artists that formed the Desmos circle are characterized by subversive disposition, unselfconscious expression, a rejection of artistic ‘craftsmanship’, a critical stance towards society, synchronization with new international trends and concerns, an irreverent attitude to sarcasm and self-mockery, and an opening up to the spirit of the street.
