Photo ©Dirk Spath, Sept 2021
VENETIA KAPERNEKAS
Founder, New York
Venetia Kapernekas is an independent art consultant and curator of cultural projects dedicated to discovering and guiding the development of creative growth in the art world. She debuted her career in the mid-eighties (after her graduation from UC Berkeley) as assistant director at the Pascal de Sarthe Gallery in San Francisco while completing her MFA in Filmmaking and Visual Studies at San Francisco State University.
In the early 90s, she returned to her hometown of Athens, Greece establishing a pioneer leading contemporary gallery, “Icebox” gallery (1994-98). "Icebox" maintained a rigorous and diverse international exhibition program and marked Venetia as a forerunner of the emerging contemporary art scene not just in Greece but across Europe.
Upon her return to New York City in 1999, she established the 'Venetia Kapernekas Gallery Ltd” ' on the legendary bldg 526 West 26th street (8th floor).
From 2005-2010, she curated conceptual and provocative projects showcasing innovative contemporary artists working in a diverse range of mediums and surprisingly hosted a fantastic exhibition (May 9-June 13, 2008) 'Seven Line Drawings’ selected by Olivier Berggruen with a publication edition of 500 copies.
In 2011-2017 Venetia moved to Munich with her young daughter She became involved in the art communities in both Munich and Berlin and Athens; (Kunstverein München e.V., Haus der Kunst- Gesellschaft der Freunde, Pinakothek der Moderne, Museum Brandhorst, Freunde der Nationalgalerie, Berlin, and International Council Museum Berggruen). Upon her return to NYC, she has been working on creating visibility for independent projects on her platform Venetia Initiatives, launched in June 2019.
Venetia Kapernekas has a BA in Political Science with a minor in Social Studies from the University of California at Berkeley and her MFA in Filmmaking and Visual Studies from San Francisco State University.
KRISTEN COY
Curatorial/research assistant
New York
'Venetia Initiatives' welcomes Kristen Coy as our curatorial /research assistant (New York, June 2022).
Kristen holds a BA from New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study where her concentration was titled “The Consumption and Commodification of Art.” Kristen’s interests are focused on the cultural/societal meaning and representation of art-objects. In the spring of 2019, Kristen published “The Rebirth of the Dandy as an Art Collector,” which analyzes the treatment of art as a commodity.
While applying to graduate school programs, Kristen worked at Salon 94 Gallery in New York. She also has work experience at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami and Christie’s Auction House, New York.
Kristen is continuing her studies at the Institute of Fine Arts as a Master’s Student. Ahead of her second year, she used her Shelby White and Leon Levy Travel Grant to perform research in Mexico City. Kristen plans on writing her thesis on Mexican Surrealism’s influence on international contemporary art.
IOUSTINI DRAKOULAKOU
Digital Content Editor
Thessaloniki, Greece
Iou D. designs, edits and manages imagery/media for the Venetia Initiatives website and Instagram account.
She holds an MA in Photography from Goldsmiths University of London: The Image and Electronic Arts (London, UK, 2018 - 2019) and an MSc in Applied & Environmental Geology: Mineral Resources and Environment from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece, 2015 - 2018).
Ioustini studied photography at the Stereosis School of Photography (Thessaloniki, Greece, 2015 - 2018) and holds a BSc in Geology (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, 2014). Ioustini’s thesis was titled “Gemstones: Characteristics and Properties.”
Ioustini is based in Thessaloniki (since pandemic lockdown, March 2020). She works as an independent artist on personal and collaborative art projects.
Photo ©Katerina Lioliou, August 2021