Rallou Panagiotou's Hard Shoulder Explores Trauma and Afterwardness

Rallou Panagiotou's exhibition 'Hard Shoulder' at Bernier / Eliades Gallery in Brussels runs through 5 July 2025. The show draws on the psychoanalytic concept of 'après-coup' (afterwardness), introduced by Sigmund Freud as Nachträglichkeit, where a present moment reveals a past trauma that was hidden in plain sight. Central to the exhibition is the large wallwork 'An après-coup in vérité lighting', made from Renault-paint-covered aluminium slabs and printed leatherette-wrapped wooden shapes, featuring a black snake silhouette near an arched door. Other works include 'Between salt water and the rock', an aluminium-cast floodlight with sea glass; 'Gardening accident', a white marble leg with red Lancia car-paint; 'Matinée idol (under a flamboyant)', white marble leggings breaking through a red fence; 'Double spaced (Enzianblau and Jaune vanille)', a split bottle outline; 'No void no loop', a wooden wall-sculpture with a bronze-cast frame; and 'Dapper (Happy outside)', a brown marble jacket lapel. Panagiotou describes the forms as 'characters of a static absurdist theater play' in an open narrative. The exhibition's title references a breakdown's diversion, and the snake's movement is used as a metaphor for contingent encounters. The review was published in the Summer 2025 issue of ArtReview.