State of Concept presents the first solo exhibition in Greece of the work of Ahmet Öğüt entitled Labour after Pay, Love before Work – An Artworkers VIP Lounge, followed by a public program. The exhibition’s opening will take place on the 23rd of June at 19:00 accompanied by the performance Fair Wage for a Made Up Job starting at 19:30.
The solo show presents a wide range of Öğüt’s individual as well as collective and collaborative parts of his practice, all works that have never been on display in Greece before. Öğüt’s exhibition is based on a critical interrogation of the art institution, exploring how artist, viewer and curator intersect. In a newly commissioned installation that includes previous works, the artist is re-creating visually a VIP Lounge for precarious cultural workers, making a potent comment on the precarious conditions of freelance art workers in Greece and beyond, that many times work for free, without contracts or with short term zero hour contracted jobs. The work comes in a poignant time when discussions in the Greek art scene are leading to the formation of a union and collective struggles for contemporary art work to be recognised in the tax system. Within the installation previous pieces of the artist will be activated, and the viewer can see examples of past collaborative and collective projects, but also other cultural workers will be hosted, invited to present their work. A film program will be running in the VIP Lounge in July and September.
Press release from State of Concept Athens
