Akis Kokkinos is an independent curator, lecturer and commissioner, living between London and Chios. He is also founding director of DEO projects, an alter-institution in Chios, supporting transnational dialogue and the existing cultural infrastructure on the island. Over the last ten years, Akis has worked for major cultural institutions in the UK and Greece, private collections, as well as independent projects. He studied the MA Curating contemporary art at the Royal College of Art (2018-2020), fully funded by a double NEON scholarship, the Schilizzi Foundation, and the RCA continuation fund. In 2021, Akis was awarded the Develop Your Creative Practice by Arts Council England and participated in the Young Curators Residency Programme at the Fundaciòn Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Madrid. In 2022, he curated the group intergenerational show Doomed Companions, Unsubstantial shades at the Hellenic Residence in London; commissioned and produced by NEON. The exhibition presented 18 artworks of Greek- speaking migrant contemporary artists including some historically-significant pieces from the D. Daskalopoulos Collection Gift. His projects have been featured in international media and platforms including Frieze magazine, Artforum, Damn Magazine, Art Basel Stories, ESTADÃO, El Pais newspaper, among others. Akis’ curatorial practice is focused on ways to disrupt the ‘objective’ and institutional by introducing or supporting other less appreciated and recognised forms of knowledge. Through multidisciplinary discourses, eco-feminist, non-western approaches, and other non- rational thoughts and philosophies, his practice focuses on the less spoken, invisible or liminal. He has been awarded the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Artist Fellowship by ARTWORKS (2022). In December 2023, Akis will become the first-ever Fulbright Fellow at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in NYC, conducting curatorial research on the global-art initiatives of the museum.

Stella Kapezanou's figurative art focuses on the complexity of the human subject. Her paintings introduce a cold intimacy rendered mainly in vibrant colors, which are further intensified by the large dimensions of her works. She primarily uses oil on canvas and occasionally incorporates ceramic sculptures that echo common motifs and aesthetics found in her paintings. Through her art, Kapezanou underscores the modern lifestyle, which transitions from opulence to consumerism and decadence, often presented from a critical perspective. Stella Kapezanou was born in 1977 in Athens, Greece, where she currently lives and works. She studied Painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts (ASFA), where she was awarded an honorary scholarship by the Greek National Scholarships Foundation (IKY) for ranking first in the ASFA entrance examinations. In 2013, she received a scholarship from the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München (The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich) to attend the institution. She obtained her M.A. in Fine Arts from Chelsea College of Arts, London, under the Motoroil Hellas scholarship, and was also awarded the Sir Frank Bowling Scholarship. Kapezanou has received various accolades, including the Clyde & Co Emerging Star Award and the Cass Art Prize. She has also been a finalist and longlisted nominee for other significant distinctions. Throughout her career, she has been an artist-in-residence at several institutions, such as the Goethe-Institute Bonn in Cologne and Berlin (2014), the AucArt LAB Residency in London (2019), the iAR Residency in Istanbul (2020), and the CARV Residency in Cyprus (2023). Her solo exhibitions include Let Them Stare at The Edit Gallery in Limassol (2022), Theodoros & Laskarina exclusive at Fougaro in Nafplio (2021), Baby One More Time at Evripides Gallery in Athens (2020), Just a Few Drops of Pink Coppertone at Fougaro in Nafplio (2019), Single's Party at The Edit Gallery in Limassol (2019), and Brit Pond at Evripides Gallery in Athens (2018). In 2024, Stella Kapezanou was awarded the Fulbright Greece grant as the recipient of the artist fellowship at the Santa Fe Arts Institute in New Mexico, U.S.A. She eagerly anticipates further developing her artistic practice on the theme of Sovereignty, an issue that has been at the core of her research over the past few years. Specifically, she aims to explore questions of gender and bodily autonomy through her paintings, examining Sovereignty as a power sourced from the female body.