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Apr. 20--Sometimes the idea behind a group show is so complex that the artists' works growing from the idea scarcely seem equal to it and are experienced as something of a letdown.
This doesn't happen often but when it does the outcome may still be positive, for even artworks falling short of the mark can introduce ideas of interest and richness that might not otherwise have been entertained.
Such is the case with "Penelopeia: The Other Journey, e-migration," the current group show of women artists at the Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center. The idea began with Homer's epic poem, "The Odyssey," in which a hero of the Trojan War slowly makes his way home. The male figure, Odysseus, is the long-detained traveler; wife Penelope craftily puts off suitors and awaits his return.
The exhibition proposes that Penelope's perseverance and wit make up a personal journey equal to Odysseus' own. And that, in turn, gives a theme for contemporary women artists, involving an "exodus" from one place (or condition) to another. Travel of the ancient world is thus linked to travel, actual and electronic, today.
But there's more. Five Greek artists -- Tanacross Dimitriadi, Eleftheria Lialios, Despo Magoni, Maro Michalakakos, Chrysanne Stathacos -- were selected to make epic journeys through their work. All "set sail" from Penelope's Ithaca, meeting other women artists from other countries and exploring together common issues arising from their respective life travels.
Now this is quite a lot to take in, and it challenges viewers not only to hold all elements in the mind at once but also to sort out such factors as whether the "journey" is physical or spiritual and made willingly or unwillingly. Which means you have to be preconditioned, bringing to the show a lot of interpretative baggage that to this viewer usually had more weight than the works themselves.
The strongest aspect of the show is the range of media, from drawings and photographs to video and digital arts to installations and performances.
The weakest aspect is presentation, as the museum shows the works in makeshift booths and stalls in a space that surely is large enough but nonetheless feels too close.
The collaborative aspect so central to the show also varies considerably. Magoni includes correspondence with 33 individuals that really help determine the form of the work, whereas most of the other partnerships appear to be little more than concurrent showings of like-minded pieces the artists created separately.
Social and political content dominates most of the works, and they are the pieces of greatest interest if not depth. However, some works, such as the video essays by Beatrice Plumet and Mia Enell, are more elusive in content, barely seeming to touch upon the theme of the show but holding attention through a formal spareness that borders on asceticism.
Anyone interested in this ambitious project would do well to prepare themselves by working their way through the documentation at www.penelopeia.net.
"Penelopeia: The Other Journey, e-migration" continues at the Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center, 801 W. Adams St., through June 16. 312-655-1234.
aartner@tribune.com
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