The Hydra Workshop, Hydra

Greece, Greece

The Hydra Workshop, Hydra, Greece, was the venue for Package Holiday: New British Art in the Ophiuchus Collection, The Hydra Workshop, Hydra, Greece, 26 July to 30 September 1997. It was organised by Pauline Karpidas and Sadie Coles.

Package Holiday was a group exhibition of some 15 London-based artists, many of them identified with the so-called yBa grouping. Chris Ofili was the only Black-British artist represented in the exhibition. All of the artists had commercial gallery representation, including two practitioners associated with Sadie Coles HQ, London.

From the accompanying catalogue:

“Package Holiday is a rambunctious and irrepressible works outing. A unique group of British artists and a capsule collection of their work are transplanted from from London to Hydra for a summer social. They, and the single examples of their work, bring to Greece a sense of the energy and diversity that has been in the air in London during the last decade, and give credence to the notoriety and critical respect they have individually and collectively gained.

This special presentation of British art, a personal selection from the Ophiuchus Collection, is shown harbour side on the Greek island of Hydra. Package Holiday provides an alternative to the resounding blue of Hydra’s seascapes with a varied and colourful view of contemporary art in London.”

Each artist was represented by one piece of work and the exhibition came with a small (A5 landscape)  catalogue. The catalogue’s text was all in English, though the exhibition took place in Greece.

»  Package Holiday - catalogue

Catalogue relating to an exhibition, 1997