Ivana de Vivanco, Sally Kindberg, Paris Giachoustidis – Error Explanation

68projects is pleased to present the group exhibition Error Explanation with works by Ivana de Vivanco, Sally Kindberg, and Paris Giachoustidis. Experimenting with contemporary figurative painting in different ways, each artist provokes a discourse about the history of humanity and the absurdity of our times. Satirical, theatrical, and comical in nature, humor plays a key role in the works presented.

The exhibition offers a complex examination of present-day life, viewed through a whimsical lens that places the viewer in a seductive position from which the ridiculous and the civilized can be examined. Through Error Explanation, the artists explore societal “errors” in an attempt to better understand and redirect our collective notion of today’s world and its history. In doing so, they address issues such as gender conformity, high and low culture, capitalism, and colonial pasts.

In the works of Ivana de Vivanco, viewers encounter a complete reversal of roles. Female figures occupy the center stage with decisive gazes and powerful presence, while representatives of Western colonial history are depicted as trampled beneath the chaos they have created. A recurring chain motif runs from one work to another—a chain of conformity and a chain of difference. It symbolizes the shackles of Indigenous populations and the role of women in society. Ultimately, however, the chain becomes merely an accessory: a reminder of a darker past and struggles overcome. It no longer restrains the woman, but instead rests quietly around her neck, pointing to her power.

For Sally Kindberg, the examination of our surroundings unfolds primarily on a formal level. The tragicomic nature of society emerges through fine lines between imaginary and everyday scenes. Differences between artistic modes—stylization, use of color, photorealism, and mark-making—dissolve the picture plane. As flatness meets near three-dimensionality, viewers are left wondering where dominant figuration ends and abstraction begins. Kindberg’s surreal paintings connect threads of contemporary culture and comment on our daily confrontation with poignant yet mundane aspects of life.

Paris Giachoustidis’ critical practice objectifies semiology and culture. Drawing on external content from the internet and historical recordings, he creates socially relevant works that sharpen our perception of mass-media imagery. Through painterly appropriation and alienation, his distanced process subtly expresses absurdities of contemporary culture. By undermining pseudo-realistic elements with deliberately unsophisticated traits, he disrupts habitual ways of seeing. In his latest body of work, Giachoustidis playfully critiques the farce of capitalist freedom and the ultimate alienation of the worker from both life and labor.

Ivana de Vivanco (born 1989, Lisbon) is a Chilean-Peruvian artist. She studied art at the Universidad de Chile with Gonzalo Díaz Cuevas and moved to Germany in 2013, where she studied at the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig with Oliver Kossack, graduating as a master student of Annette Schröter in 2016. Her work has appeared in publications such as 100 Painters of Tomorrow (Thames & Hudson) and has been exhibited widely in Europe and South America. She has received scholarships from the DAAD, the Heinrich Böll Foundation, and the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony, and was awarded the Marion Ermer Prize in 2015. In 2021, she completed a residency at Centro de Arte Casa de Indias in Cádiz.

Sally Kindberg (born 1970, Sweden) studied at Goldsmiths, University of London, where she lives and works. In 2020, she received the John Moores Painting Prize. Recent exhibitions include solo shows at Four You Gallery in Dubai (2021) and Soft Bite at 12 Star Gallery, London (2018). She has participated in numerous international group exhibitions and biennials.

Paris Giachoustidis (born 1990, Serres, Greece) holds BA and MA degrees from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the Weißensee Academy of Art in Berlin. His work has been exhibited extensively in Germany and Greece, including at KWADRAT Berlin, KINDL – Centre for Contemporary Art, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Max Liebermann Haus, and Galerie Russi Klenner. He received the NEUSTART KULTUR grant in 2020 and the Art Prize Haus am Kleistpark in 2017. His works are held in several private collections.