Esmeralda Kosmatopoulos

Livre d’or (Golden book) is a site-specific installation that assumes the role of a guest book – its symbolism, core principles, linguistic codes, and visual imagery – to explore the history of the space. Inspired by graffiti engraved by former prisoners, Kosmatopoulos recreates these collected traces as neon signs. These marks are celebrated, instead of hidden or erased, within this opulent environment.

Esmeralda Kosmatopoulos was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1981. She lives and works in New York. She is a multidisciplinary conceptual artist who investigates language, identity, and collective histories. She has exhibited at Kunsthal Charlottenborg (Copenhagen), Künstlerhaus Wien (Vienna), AMA | Art Museum of the Americas (Washington, D.C.), Palazzo delle Arti Napoli (Italy), and the French Institute of Athens.