Polixeni Papapetrou (AU)

Image: Polixeni Papapetrou,
[Delphi], 2016,
from the series [Eden], Monash Gallery of Art, City of Monash Collection. Courtesy of the Estate of Polixeni Papapetrou, Michael Reid (Sydney) and Jarvis Dooney Galerie (Berlin).

Image: Polixeni Papapetrou, Delphi, 2016, from the series Eden, Monash Gallery of Art, City of Monash Collection. Courtesy of the Estate of Polixeni Papapetrou, Michael Reid (Sydney) and Jarvis Dooney Galerie (Berlin).

Polixeni Papapetrou (1960–2018) first began taking photographs in the 1980s, creating documentary-style portraits of drag queens, body builders and Elvis fans. Soon after the birth of her first child, Papapetrou’s artistic practice began to focus on projects that employed her children, Olympia and Solomon, as models. Her work has been exhibited widely since 1996 and she is now recognised nationally and internationally for her staged images that show her children dressed in costumes and masks while performing in front of real and imaginary backgrounds. Papapetrou completed a Master of Arts at RMIT in 1997 and a PhD in Fine Arts at Monash University in 2002.

PHOTO 2021 Events

Founding Partners
  • Bowness Family Foundation
  • Naomi Milgrom Foundation
Major Government Partners
  • City of Melbourne Arts Grants Program
  • Creative Victoria
Major Partners
  • Maddocks

PHOTO Australia respectfully acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands upon which we work and live, and the rich and diverse Indigenous cultures across what is now called Australia. For over 60,000 years, Indigenous arts and culture have thrived on this sacred land, and we honour Elders and cultural leaders past and present. This was, and always will be, Aboriginal land.

01–24 March