Works from the Serial Structures series, 1978-1981
Ink on graph paper
ΕΜΣΤ Collection
Donated by Zafos Xagoraris, 2002
The central focus of Bia Davou’s artistic practice was the development of a systematic method for organising her work, which she herself termed “serial structures”. From the mid-1970s onward, she adopted seriality as a fundamental principle for structuring her artistic practice, organising her works according to numerical sequences. These structures draw on the binary system and the principles of cybernetics (the science that studies complex systems and communication within living organisms and machines), while evolving through sequential logic. At the same time, her work incorporated mathematical principles and sequences, seeking to create a visual code of communication between the artwork and the viewer. The meticulous process of executing the designs combines labour-intensive craft with standardised production methods. Although she worked in a variety of media—including sculpture, painting, drawing, and weaving—drawing became Davou’s primary field for developing her methodology, often on graph paper. Throughout her extensive body of drawings, the painstaking and manual nature of their execution undermines the mathematically predetermined structure and the seeming rigidity of the system.
In a 1978 text, Bia Davou defined Serial Structures as follows: “1. Serial structures: mental and conceptual constructions deriving from the binary numerical system (0, 1) and developing into self-regulating sequences (series) of integers (elements).” In the late 1970s, the rigorous, hand-rendered execution of the serial structures led Davou to the mythological figure of Penelope and the poetic composition of the Odyssey. In this context, she transcribed verses from the Homeric epic onto the surface of her drawings, organising them into numerical sequences, or embroidered them onto fabric, creating installations that evoke ship sails. Central themes such as homecoming (nostos) and death intertwine with personal references, transforming the “serial structures” into vehicles for existential reflection, where mathematical systems and logic intersect with memory and poetic narrative.
Bia Davou was born in 1932. She died in Athens in 1996.
