EROS OF KOSMOS by SF Artists Alumni

About San Francisco Artists Alumni (SFAA)

SFAA is an international non-profit artist-run organization representing the alumni of the recently closed San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) SFAI, founded in 1871, was one of the oldest and most prestigious institutions of higher education in the practice and study of art It was an institution with 150+ years of history renowned for its rich legacy of innovation in the contemporary fine arts

SFAA was created in 2020 to advocate for SFAI alumni, protect the SFAI archives and to provide an ongoing bridge with the general arts community Our core mission is building community through events, a monthly artists’ lecture series, a newsletter and curating exhibitions We foster a sense of community and celebrate a century and a half of artistic exploration accomplished by our alumni Our future plans are to create new partnerships with other cultural institutions and to engage in a dialogue committed to original thinking in an open, experimental and interdisciplinary context.

Curatorial Statement

In the rich tapestry of ancient Greek language, "kosmos" embodies a harmonious order, decency, civility, and the adorned beauty of the universe-cosmos Paired with "Eros", the primal force of love and desire, this exhibition explores the dynamic between passion and the structured elegance of existence

Passion is an elemental energy that ignites creativity, an impulse that resists reason and thrives between desire and madness It is not polite; it is messy, disruptive, sometimes dangerous Yet it is the very force that propels us to create, even when reason warns us otherwise

The artists in the "Eros of Kosmos" alumni of the San Francisco Art Institute, channel this fervent energy through diverse mediums: photography, painting, drawing, embroidery, video, and installation, inviting viewers to navigate the delicate balance between order and chaos, fostering new ways of thinking and envision possibilities beyond our immediate circumstances

Eleni Exarchou

Curator, Eros of Kosmos

April 2025

As you set out for Ithaka hope your road is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery Ithaka C.P Cavafy

About the Artists

The artist-run non-profit SF Artists Alumni (SFAA) presents Εros of Kosmos, an exhibition including eight alumni from the San Francisco Art Institute of different age-groups, living in different countries and using a variety of media. The title derives from the ancient Greek words Έρως (Eros, love, desire) and Κόσμος (Kosmos or Cosmos, the Universe); it suggests the uniquely human passion for life, adventure, discovery, voyage, change and new experiences while demonstrating a deep concern for the environment Sources of inspiration vary, spanning an impressive range from ancient myths that reflect the collective unconscious, to current topical social and political issues

In one of her studies for larger paintings, based on mythological themes and art masterpieces of the past, Aliki Pavli depicts the ancient Greek god Eros, after Antonio Canova’s 18th century marble sculpture He is captured kissing, and thus reviving, the lifeless Psyche; the most beautiful mortal woman with whom he has madly fallen in love As her Greek name reveals, Psyche is the personification of the “Soul”, a principle that underlines many of Pavli’s works side by side with the idea of death

The myth of Eros spiriting away Psyche may serve here as an allegory for the often uncontrollable love of money that can steal human souls; planet Earth frequently being the victim. A scenario exemplified by Martin R. Wohlwend’s videos of the “tunnels of aggression”; the infiltration tunnels in Cheorwon dug by North Koreans, in South Korea’s Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Τhe artist flew far away to record cinematographically the absurd underground sites that have metamorphosed the wounds of war into a touristic spectacle, turning traumatic collective memory into profitable business.

Liz Miller Kovacs also delves into the scars of mother-Earth She travels extensively around the world, capturing with her photographic lens landscapes of extraction and enterprise, nature’s industrial traumata caused by human intervention She frequently inhabits these seemingly extra-terrestrial loci, wholly wrapped in monochromatic fabrics that hide her identity Bizarre, codified, performative self-portraits, they hint to the archetypal, mythological feminine; “supernatural” symbolic vestiges to be discovered by the archaeology of the future

Annie Reiniger-Holleb began the series Deluge before the destructive LA fires and mudflows, tragic situations she recently experienced The paintings portray abstract spaces that ignore laws of perspective and gravity; full of lines, colourful ink drops, random episodes and floating enigmatic shapes that provoke free associations. A world in disintegration, deconstruction, chaos and decay, in constant flux; perpetual motion hinting at the cosmic cycle, thus also referencing rebirth.

Eleni Exarchou also deals with the infinite cosmic flow, symbolized by the spiral. The fabric pages of her diaries recount narratives with blossoming flowers, motifs from ancient Greek vases, plant roots like blood vessels, cicatrices and healing wounds. A cosmos of abstract and figurative forms, drawn and embroidered, infused with life through injections destined Only for Mammals The incorporation of Linear B writing cryptically alludes to her concern in the preservation of humankind

Elania Nanopoulos constructs peculiar wooden icons, bearing seeds in the place of saints; sacred symbols of future life The minute works function as codified religious prayers not only for the fate of nature but also for that of the human race The artist uses titles as decodifying tools: Seed For Hind Rajab This requiem to the five year old Palestinian girl reveals that Nanopoulos’ abstractions are political commentaries, sensitive humanitarian cries

In her series Forester Hall, Åsa Åkerlund captures scenes that she herself stages in a home for adults with learning disabilities Residents and staff are pictured side by side, becoming performers in their own home The staged scenes are, at the same time, acute psychological photographic portraits They depict the artist’s view of the protagonists’ daily lives, exploring human relationships, love, compassion, togetherness, and belonging

Eddie Ritter, uses his mobile phone to capture nature Trees full of voluptuous apples seen from different viewpoints stand as symbols of abundance and fertility The artist travels broadly and always photographs while en route; never after arriving He thus turns photography into a performative act, imbuing his art with notions of motion and ephemerality. His process brings to mind Constantine P. Cavafy’s poem Ithaka which underlines the importance of the journey over one’s final destination; a metaphor for the journey of life.

Bia Papadopoulou Art Historian, Curator

ARTISTS

ÅSA ÅKERLUND

SFAI Alumni MFA 2015 Stockholm, Sweden www.asaakerlund.com

Home is more than just a physical space - it is where identity, memory, and belonging intersect Each photograph becomes a narrative - a reflection on how individuals interact with their surroundings, how we seek belonging, and how our environments shape our stories By blending fiction and authenticity, I explore how identity, agency, and belonging are shaped through the images we create I challenge the conventions of storytelling by questioning who gets to narrate their own story

Åsa Åkerlund, Forester Hall 2, 2013, Inkjet print, 40 x 60 cm

Åsa Åkerlund, Forester Hall 1, 2013, Inkjet print, 60 x 40 cm

Åsa Åkerlund, Forester Hall 3, 2013, Inkjet print, 60 x 40 cm

Åsa Åkerlund, Forester Hall 4, 2013, Inkjet print, 60 x 40 cm

ELENI EXARCHOU

SFAI Alumni BFA 1986

Athens, Greece

www.eleniexarchou.art

Only for Mammals expresses the passion for the ever-turning cycle connecting all living things. Inspired by nature's rhythms, the interplay of birth, growth, decay, and renewal The eternal movement Linear B is incorporated into free translation, an ancient Greek script used mostly to record data for inventory The work examines preservation, conservation, habitat protection, and ethical coexistence

Eleni Exarchou, Only for Mammals, 2025, canvas, ink, embroidery, 28 x 54 cm

LIZ MILLER KOVACS

SFAI Alumni MFA 2000 Berlin, Germany www.miller-kovacs.art

Svalbard Siren' was photographed on location at Longyearbyen Harbour on the island of Svalbard in the shadow of an abandoned coal loading crane In the Arctic there are no waste facilities for large equipment, so this mammoth relic looms over the docks like a monument to the island’s mining history It will remain intact for hundreds of years due to the arctic climate The harbour is still active, however, today the coal industry uses updated equipment The image of the mythological siren resonated with the prominent location in the harbour and the history of shipwrecks in the dangerous seas surrounding the archipelago

Liz Miller Kovacs, Svalbard Siren (triptych), 2024, Archival Pigment Prints on FineArt Paper, 80 x 160 cm (framed)

Liz Miller Kovacs, Escondida, 2024, Ultraviolet Print on Copper Plate, 43 x 63 cm (framed)

Liz Miller Kovacs, Gruve 7 Containers, 2024, Ultraviolet Print on Stainless Steel Plate, 43 x 63 cm (framed)

Liz Miller Kovacs, Kaolin Lom, 2024, Ultraviolet Print on Brass Plate, 43 x 63 cm (framed)

ELANIA NANOPOULOS

SFAI Alumni BFA 1979

San Francisco, CA, US https://elaniananopoulos.art

Maybe it’s because I grew up in an old culture, Greece, that from a very early age I’ve seen the world around me in a non-linear way Always aware that what I’m observing and experiencing has been seen and experienced by others thousands of years before and will be for thousands of years to come For me, the anecdotal tends to become allegorical

What I want to convey in my work is this state of perception; a deep physical and empathetic connection to the world in tension with a temporal and empirical understanding of the continuity between historical and current destructive forces

Elania Nanopoulos, "Seed: For Hind Rajab", 2023, Acrylic on Plywood, 22 x 30 x 4 cm

Elania Nanopoulos, Once There Was Green Grass, 2024, Acrylic on Paper, 38 x 27 x 2 cm

Elania Nanopoulos, Midnight Epiphany, 2024, Acrylic on Paper on Masonite, 14 x 44 x 2 cm

ALIKI PAVLI

SFAI Alumni BFA 2001

Athens, Greece

www.alikipavli.com

For SUPERMARKET, an impassioned selection of small works by Aliki Pavli are hung together Using advanced craft techniques, combined with painting, drawing, classical and contemporary dance, Aliki Pavli tells a nonlinear narrative

Aliki Pavli, Broken Herakles (Hercules), 2025, Machine embroidery and acrylic paint on canvas, silk and organic cotton thread, 20 x 30 cm

Aliki Pavli, (Study) Psyche Revived by Eros' Kiss, 2024, Oil on canvas, 20 x 30 cm

Aliki Pavli, (Study) Pan Comforting Psyche, 2024, Oil on canvas, 20 x 30 cm

Aliki Pavli, The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (Study), 2024, Oil on canvas, 20 x 30 cm

Aliki Pavli, Autumn Sphinx, Villa Sciarra, Roma, 2024, Oil on canvas, 40 x 30 cm

Aliki Pavli, Spring Sphinx, Villa Sciarra, Roma, 2024, Oil on canvas, 45 x 35 cm

ANNIE REINIGER-HOLLEB

SFAI Alumni BFA 1980

Santa Monica, CA, United States

https://www.instagram.com/reinigerholleb

I recently started a series called Deluge a few months before the Los Angeles fires and mudslides My works feature multiple perspectives and timeframes, producing a dynamic interplay between flatness and depth Atmospheric spaces create the sense of gravity, a disorientation, sometimes referencing architectural shapes, spaces, fragile structures, and vague landscapes There is a tension between order, chaos, and constant change Things collapse New growth forms

To quote art writer Lorraine Heitzman, “paints grids, not as a system to maintain order or structure, but to emphasize the overwhelming surplus of commodities that surround us Her messy, chaotic environments are barely contained and push to the edges, as if on the precipice of falling off the canvas She thinks of her work as metaphors for overconsumption and one does get the sense of too much Through her painterly, immersive approach, Reiniger-Holleb adds substance and meaning to the linear marks that define her grids ”

Annie Reiniger-Holleb lives in Santa Monica with a studio in Los Angeles She received her BFA in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1980 and her MFA in 1993 from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Annie Reiniger-Holleb, Deluge Drawing #3, 2024, acrylic and ink on Dura-Lar paper, 43 2 x 35 6 cm

Annie Reiniger-Holleb, Deluge Drawing #1, 2024, acrylic and ink on Dura-Lar paper, 43 2 x 35 6 cm

Annie Reiniger-Holleb, Deluge Drawing #2, 2024, acrylic and ink on Dura-Lar paper, 43 2 x 35 6 cm

Annie Reiniger-Holleb, Deluge Drawing #4, 2024, acrylic and ink on Dura-Lar paper, 35 6 x 43 2 cm

EDDIE RITTER

SFAI Alumni BFA 1980

Stockholm, Sweden

https://wwwinstagram com/eddieritter

For the past 7 years I have been photographing only with my phone I don't photograph when I get THERE, I just photograph on the way

Eddie Ritter, Apples, 2024, photographic print, 40 x 32 cm

Eddie Ritter, Apples, 2024, photographic print, 40 x 32 cm"

MARTIN WOHLWEND

SFAI Alumni BFA 1994 Vaduz, Liechtenstein www.martinwohlwend.com

In 2019, artist Martin Remigius Wohlwend joined the Nine Dragon Heads collective on two visits to South Korea's DMZ, capturing the surreal and poignant atmosphere of the infamous infiltration tunnels in Cheorwon. These tunnels, dug by North Korea in the 1970s, symbolized the tension of the divided peninsula. Wohlwend's experiences in the tunnels encountering isolated group members and hearing untraceable singing highlighted the randomness of human behavior in controlled spaces. His resulting work examines the emotional scars of the Korean border, reflecting the endless cycle of sadness felt by both North and South Koreans over the division imposed in 1953. By integrating ambient tunnel sounds with Ed Atkins' piano piece "Good Wine," Wohlwend critiques the absurdity of man-made borders and the deep psychological impact they leave behind.

Martin Wohlwend, Cheorwon, 2019, Multimedia-Installation, Variable

SPECIAL THANKS

Curator

Eleni Exarchou

Essayist & Curatorial Advisor

Bia Papadopoulou

Curatorial Assistant

Maria Nefeli Kolokythas

Volunteers

Nina Wedberg Thulin

Donors

Anonymous

SFAA Liaison Team

SFAA Board

Maria Theresa Barbist, President

Annie Reiniger-Holleb, Vice-President

Marian Wallace, Interim Treasurer

Toban Nichols, Co-Secretary

Brianna Hyneman, Co-Secretary

Cristina Velazquez

Jackie Buttice

Linda Connor

Lior Bar

SFAA Advisory Board

April Martin

Becky Alexander

Jeff Gunderson

Rye Purvis

and all participating SFAI artists!

San Francisco Art Institute Entrance in Oct 2016, Photography by Nina Wedberg Thulin

SFAI Graduation 1984, Photography by Kostas Kolokythas

All images and texts featured in this catalog are protected by copyright and are the intellectual property of the respective artists and authors Reproduction, distribution, or transmission of the images and texts in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, is prohibited without prior written permission from the copyright holders

The artists and authors retain their respective copyrights Requests for permission to reproduce images or text should be directed to the individual copyright holders, whose contact information may be obtained through SF Artists Alumni

Cover and Back image by Annie Reiniger-Holleb.

Printed by Elfströms Tryckeri AB, Sweden.

979-8-9920002-1-4

Published by SF Artists Alumni.

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