by Lucia Longhi // Nov. 24, 2023
Leontios Toumpouris advocates for a departure from the hegemony of language. Instead, he urges the exploration of the realm of physical sensation, using the body and interaction with the landscape to find alternative ways of connecting with other elements and beings. This departure from verbal communication does not signify a retreat, but rather an opening up and a commitment to listening through different channels.
Leontios Toumpouris: ‘With mountains, and stars, and particles,’ 2023 // Photo by Mirka Koutsouri, courtesy of Eins Gallery and the artist
The title of his current show, ‘With mountains, and stars, and particles,’—which opened at Eins Gallery on the occasion of Limassol Art Walks in Cyprus in October—is inspired by a quote from the book ‘The Judas Rose’ (from ‘The native tongue Trilogy’ by Suzette Haden Elgin). In a future Earth, some women crafted a language to convey emotions, born out of the inadequacy of existing ones. An elder woman advises younger generations saying that “there’s so much to be learned from elephants, and stars, and roses.” Altered slightly, the title of the show refers to the artist’s experience of the landscape as a safe space to discover and practice alternative relationships with his own self and body, and with natural elements. Mountains and stars symbolize the external, while particles addresses the internal.
Leontios Toumpouris: ‘Studies on safe spaces (1:100),’ 2023, bisque-fired clay, threaded wire, dimensions variable, detail nd particles,’ 2023 // Photo by Mirka Koutsouri, courtesy of Eins Gallery and the artist
Toumpouris’ process in fact involves a unique relationship between the body and the observed object, one that oscillates between a state of control over materials and the surrounding space, and a complete abandonment to unpredictability of behaviors and results. This is well conveyed in the work ‘In reflexive terms’ (2023), where a display of clay pieces, resembling organs or organic forms, appears to be identical. In reality, their genesis is different: some of them are moldings, while others are shaped manually through a labor-intensive process. These forms are arranged on an aluminum support, upon which the imprint of a plant in a vase is discernible. This image could serve as the key to reading the whole exhibition: the weeds were collected by the artist, contrary to what people usually do when trying to get rid of wild plants. He kept watering them in a pot instead, without knowing what would grow, accepting the unknown, following his “gut feeling.” In fact, the guts—both in their formal and metaphorical expression—are present in different works in the show, punctuating the discourse on the dichotomy of control-instinct, or culture-nature.
Leontios Toumpouris: ‘In reflexive terms,’ 2023, image of weeds in a pot laser engraved on stainless steel, printmaking ink, bisque-fired clay, solder, 22 x 142 x 36 cm // Photo by Mirka Koutsouri, courtesy of Eins Gallery and the artist
Toumpouris presents a path through his theoretical and artistic exercise: allowing the process, allowing oneself to be open and let go, to connect with something you don’t know, to produce something you don’t expect. All this “comes from the guts and not from the brain,” he explains. “It’s emotionality, it’s intuition, it’s something subconscious.”
Both the video embedded in the work ‘Fictitious articulations’ (2023) and the sculptures composing the installation ‘Studies on safe spaces (1:100),’ are examples of this vision. For the video—a still shot of grass—the artist let the camera capture its footage, without his direct gaze, for months, only reviewing it later. This act of fully renouncing control of the filming process reveals also a partial abandonment of authorship. Toumpouris acknowledges this, emphasizing that he doesn’t “make” materials and media do something; rather, he engages in a shared authorship, akin to shared agency with the elements he works with. The absence of sound in the video is linked to the distorted vocal cords engraved on the stainless steel right next to it, suggesting alternative means of communication.
Leontios Toumpouris: ‘Fictitious articulations,’ 2023, images of distorted vocal cords laser engraved on stainless steel, printmaking ink, bisque-fired clay, solder, video on loop, no sound, 220 x 98 x 15 cm, detail // Photo by Mirka Koutsouri, courtesy of Eins Gallery and the artist
In the work ‘Studies on safe spaces (1:100)’ (2023), the clay conglomerates hanging from the ceiling again recall body parts, echoing the artist’s exploration of gut feelings and intuition, encouraging visitors to think about safe spaces outside and within their own bodies. Here, once again, the artist plays with perception, as the pieces composing the sculptures seem to be all moldings, while at a closer look they also reveal their handmade origin. Toumpouris also challenges materials, juxtaposing different types of clay during production, thus embracing an uncontrolled outcome.
It’s precisely by marshalling two opposite processes—one driven by control and labor, the other arising by intuition and shared agency with the material—that Toumpouris expresses the tension between conventional methods of connecting with surroundings, and the detachment from linguistic constraints, towards a new type of dialogue, one that comes from the guts.
Leontios Toumpouris: ‘In temporality #3 & #2,’ 2023, images of male bodies outdoors laser engraved on stainless steel, printmaking ink, rocks, 61 x 45 x 6 cm each // Photo by Mirka Koutsouri, courtesy of Eins Gallery and the artist
Toumpouris’s show ultimately revolves around notions of relationality, fostering a relearning process to connect with the Cypriot landscape beyond its colonial history. The emphasis on intuition also reveals a conscious decision to challenge himself, opening portals that control alone wouldn’t unveil. This relinquishing of dominion over the process is tied to his return to Cyprus (after several years abroad), immersing himself in the landscape in order to transcend its historical weight. The connection between the human body and nature is further explored in other imprinted images on stainless steel, of barely recognizable male bodies and clay elements attached to them. Ultimately, all the works in the show could be seen as a study on learning exercises: learning about the materials, learning about the methods, learning about oneself, understanding limits and embracing new codes of communication.
Exhibition Info
Eins Gallery
Leontios Toumpouris: ‘With mountains, and stars, and particles’
Exhibition: Oct. 20–Dec. 1, 2023
einsgallery.com
Themidos 28, Limassol 3036, Cyprus, click here for map
