Born in Greece, 1981.
Lives and works between London and Athens.
She studied Building Restoration and Renovation at the Technological Educational Institute of Patras (2005). In 2008 she ranked first at the NTUA School of Architecture admission exams and earned her BA/MSc degrees in Architectural Engineering (2012). In 2013 she received the “GREAT 2013 - Greek Architectural Talent Award” for her thesis project ‘Redesigning Klaftmonos Square’.
She practiced Architecture in collaboration with NC-MP Architects from 2003 and for 11 consecutive years. Since 2008, she has been working as a photographer, specialising in Architectural Photography, including Corporate, Aerial, Construction and Documentation Photography/ Videography.
Art Athina, Athens Biennale, Onassis Cultural Centre Athens, Piraeus Port Authority S.A., BMW Hellas, Municipality of Athens, Institut Français d’ Athenes are some of her past as well as current commissioners, alongside several Architectural Greek firms and Construction companies.
In 2014 she moved to London to pursue a MFA in Fine Art Media at the Slade School of Fine Art, where she earned her degree with distinction and received the UCL Dean’s List Award and the William Coldstream Prize for outstanding academic achievement (2016).
Her art practice ranges across different media, including video, photography, public interventions, performances and installation. Over the last 3 years, Mariana has exhibited internationally, including shows in Hong Kong (AVA - HKBU), Kuala Lumpur (National Art Gallery), Taipei (TAV, Venue), Brussels (Martine Ehmer Gallery), Paris (CAUE92 ), London (The Crypt, Velorose, Limbo Unit 5), Brighton (Phoenix), Lisbon (Dona Laura), Bradford (Impressions Gallery), Athens (TAF, Megaron) etc.
In February 2017 she spent 3 months in Hong Kong as an artist-in-residence at the Academy Of Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University. Her work ‘Wěndìng Fánróng’, a two-channel 8min drone video, received great exposure and got featured on The Guardian, Dezeen and Archdaily.
Education
2014-2016 University College London - Slade School of Fine Art
MFA Fine Art Media (Distinction)
2008-2012 National Technical University of Athens - School of Architecture
Architectural Engineering Diploma (MSc level equivalent)
2001-2005 TΕΙ Patras - School of Restoration and Renovation of Buildings
BA Preservation Engineering
Awards & Distinctions
2018 Sony World Photography Awards | Commended photographer
OPEN 2018, Architecture category.
2016 Danny Wilson Memorial Award | People's Choice
Favourite exhibiting photographer as part of Brighton Photo Fringe 2016.
Brighton Photo Fringe Open 2016
Top 20 Shortlist.
Dean’s List 2016 | Arts and Humanities Faculty, UCL
Granted for outstanding academic performance to 20 graduates per year.
William Coldstream Prize 2016 | Slade School of Fine Art
Purchase prize for outstanding achievement.
UCL Certificate of Distinction | Slade School of Fine Art
Granted by the Final Examination Board for work of excellent quality,
professionally realised, high level of critical acuity, independent and
original investigation.
HIX Award | CNB Gallery
Shortlisted.
2015 Nancy Balfour Trust Scholarship
Based upon satisfactory academic progress.
Awarded by the Slade Prizes and Scholarships Committee.
Slade Bursary
Funded by donations from the Friends of the Slade.
Graduate Exchange Student Nomination
Shortlisted for a fully funded graduate exchange in the Sculpture
department of the Fine Art Faculty in Dhaka University, Bangladesh.
2014 Open House Athens - Sony Greece Award
Second prize in an photo contest on Instagram, with over 550 participants,
coordinated by Sony Greece & the Open House Athens organisation.
2013 GREAT 2013 - Greek Architectural Talent Award
Granted for the NTUA Thesis project ‘Redesigning Klafthmonos Square’.
Greek Seas Award | Benaki Museum
Ranked within the top 10 among 350 contestants.
Juror Award of Merit | Grand Prix de la Découverte 2013
Granted by the International Fine Art Photography Competition
for the ‘Street - Documentary’ category.
2012 Urban Survivors Award | Medecins Sans Frontiers
Ranked within the top-10 in an open photo contest on the Greek Crisis.
2010 Photo Raid Festival Award
Ranked first among 100 contestants.
2008 NTUA Certificate of Distinction | School of Architecture
Ranked first in the Admission Exams of 2008 for a place at the
NTUA School of Architecture among 150 candidates.
Exhibitions
2019 Utopia/Dystopia Revisited
Annely Juda Fine Art, London, UK
SURVOLS - La photographie Aérienne des villes
Noblessneri Valukoda, Tallinn, EST
Crossings
Biennale d'art contemporain de Mountados, Tinos, GR
Die Säulen des Herakles
Kunstzentrum Karlskaserne, Ludwigsburg, DE
Spectacular Atrophy | Independent Publishing Fair by Batonic Projects
Barrak Art Book Fair, Okinawa, JP
Political Bodies
Galeria Cavour, Padua, IT
London, UK (to be announced)
Athens, GR (to be announced)
Spectacular Atrophy | Independent Publishing Fair by Batonic Projects
Substore, Koenji, Tokyo, JP
2018 SURVOLS - La photographie Aérienne des villes
CAUE92 - La Galerie, Nanterre, FR
AIR/ SPACE - KLAF2018 Kuala Lumpur National Art Gallery, Malaysia
Spectacular Atrophy | Independent Publishing Fair by Batonic Projects
Barrak Art Book Fair, Okinawa, JP
Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition
Somerset House, London, UK
Spectacular Atrophy | Independent Publishing Fair by Batonic Projects
liáu liáu Art Space, Taipei, TW
Timber Rising
Roca London Gallery, London, UK
Labyrinth
Galerie Martine Ehmer, Brussels, Belgium
2017 Ilha Formosa | Sound + Vision Tour
Venue - Performance & event Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
Jiang Shan Yi Gai Suo, Hsinchu, Taiwan
NAKED
Open studio performances, Taipei Artist Village, Taiwan
AIR Exhibition
Barry Exhibition Space, Taipei Artist Village, Taiwan
UPROOTEDNESS
310NXRD Gallery, London, UK
Artists Sharing
Academy of Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University, HK
MEMEMEME
The Crypt Gallery, London, UK
2016 Brighton Photo Fringe OPEN2016 Shortlist Showcase
Phoenix Brighton & Openair Hub, part of the Top 20 Shortlist, Brighton, UK
Photo Publishers’ Market by Photo Fringe & Photo Biennial 2016
Phoenix Brighton, UK
Forwards + Backwards
Dona Laura House, Lisbon, PRT
Photobook Fair 2016
Impressions Gallery, Bradford, UK
Slade Print Fair
North Lodge, UCL, London, UK
Curious Body
Velorose Gallery, London, UK
Making do
Slade Summer School - Artists in Residence Show, Slade School of Fine Art,
UCL, London, UK
Encountering Pain - International Conference
UCL, London, UK
HOMER REIMAGINED
Woburn - Slade Research Centre, UCL, London, UK
EUrythmy 2016
Limbo Unit 5, London, UK
MA/MFA Fine Art Graduate Degree Show
Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, London, UK
The Small Press Project
IAS & North Lodge, UCL, London, UK
Indigo Vastness
UCLH, London, UK
2015 Kontratω: for it had turned to gold in his hand
TAF (The Art Foundation), Athens, GR
MFA Fine Art Interim Show
Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, London, UK
2014 Slade Print Fair
Slade Research Centre, UCL, London, UK
2013 Greek Seas Contest
Benaki Museum, Athens, GR
GREAT - Their First Buildings
Athens Concert Hall (Megaron), Athens, GR
Traces
Vassiliades’ Coast Cultural Warehouse, Piraeus, GR
Talks & Screenings
2019 The Zhongshan Building 9 July, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (T+S)
2018 Kuala Lumpur National Art Gallery 8 July, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (T+S)
TU GRAZ Institute of Architecture and Media, 13 April, Graz, Austria (T+S)
Phoenix Brighton BPF18, 12 February, Brighton, UK (T+S)
2017 VENUE 24 December, Taipei, TW (S)
Jiang Shan Yi Gai Suo 22 December, Hsinchu, TW (T+S)
TAV Taipei Artist Village, 16 December, Taipei, TW (S)
TAV Taipei Artist Village, 27 October, Taipei, TW (T+S)
CVA - KHBU April 27, Kowloon, Hong Kong (T+S)
AVA - KHBU April 1, Kowloon, Hong Kong (T+S)
2016 Slade School Of Fine Art 3 August, UCL, London, UK (T)
2012 NTUA School of Architecture, 24 February, Athens, GR (T)
Residencies
2018 KLAF18
10 weeks. Funded by Kuala Lumpur Architecture Festival, Malaysia
2017 TAV Air - Taipei Artist Village
10 weeks. Funded by the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art, Taiwan
AVA Air - Academy of Visual Arts
10 weeks. Funded by Hong Kong Baptist University, HK
2016 Summer School Residency
5 weeks, Slade School of Fine Art, London, UK
Selected publications
Books
2018 KLAF BOX: AIR/SPACE by Mariana Bisti
Official KLAF2018 Catalogue, p.p. 348, ISBN: 978-967-5264-22-1
2017 A+ Architecture: The Best of Architizer 2017
Phaidon, Photographic illustration, p.p. 240, ISBN: 978-071-4875613C
Microdwelling: Atlas for Architects | Sofia Vizoviti
University Studio Press, Photographic illustration
p.p. 153, ISBN 978-618-80147-3-2
2014 To exofyllo derma tou chronou | Panos Oikonomou
Photographic illustration & book cover, p.p. 37
ISBN 978-618-80147-3-2
2013 4th Athens Biennale ‘AGORA’ | Anthology
Photographic illustration, p.p. 220, ISBN 978-960-98893-3-9 (English Edition)
4th Athens Biennale ‘AGORA’ | Guidebook
Photographic illustration, p.p. 235, ISBN 978-960-98893-2-2 (Greek Edition)
GREAT 2013 | Greek Architectural Talent Awards
GREAT 2013 - Their First Buildings’, p.p. 220, ISBN 678-960-86014-9-9
Ta fota sto vathos | Pella Soultatou
Book cover, p.p. 126, ISBN 9789605371739
Magazines
2020 WALLPAPER*
'CUBE Route', January Issue, UK
2019 DOMES - International Review of Architecture magazine
'Holiday Home, Agios Nikolaos, Chalcidice', Awards 2019 (148), GR
DOMES - International Review of Architecture magazine
'Information Technology Company Offices, Omonia', Awards 2019 (148), GR
DOMES - International Review of Architecture magazine
'Children's Nursery, Glyfada', Awards 2019 (148), GR
EK - Architecture Plus Design
'Aegon Mykonos', The Hotel Issue Issue (242), GR
EK - Architecture Plus Design
'Irodou Attikou House', Best of 2019, GR
EK - Architecture Plus Design
'Into the Light - Apartment renovation in Athens', The Apartment Issue, GR
EK - Architecture Plus Design
'House renovation in Psychiko', GR
DOMES - International Review of Architecture magazine
'MASK House in Palaio Psychiko', 2019 Yearbook, GR
TINY HOUSE Mag
'The Olive Tree House', 2019 Yearbook
2018 C3 Special
'Public Nursery in Glyfada', Spaces For Children Issue, KR
K
'Polykatoikia 2.0', Kathimerini, Issue 807, GR
EK - Architecture Plus Design
'House Renovation in Psychiko', September Issue, GR
EK - Architecture Plus Design
'OTE Call Center in Athens', issue 230, GR
2017 Architecture Today
Envelope: The Olive Tree House, issue 281, UK
agitprop mag
Featured artist, Issue 1, “Des/Information of the EU”.
Printed at the Universität der Künste Berlin.
EK - Architecture Plus Design
'Two BMW showrooms in Athens', Best of 2017, Issue 223, GR
EK - Architecture Plus Design
'Public nursery school in Glyfada', Best of 2017, Issue 223, GR
DOMES - International Review of Architecture magazine
'Holiday Home, Agios Nikolaos, Chalcidice', 06/16, GR
ARCHITECTURAL AWARDS 2017 - Hellenic Institute of Architecture
'Inside - Out', GR
EK - Architecture Plus Design
'Inside - Out', Issue 220, GR
EK - Architecture Plus Design
'Zurbaran Athens - bar restaurant in Kolonaki', Issue 220, GR
ARCHITECTURAL AWARDS 2017 - Hellenic Institute of Architecture
'Public nursery in Glyfada', GR
EK - Architecture Plus Design
'Public nursery in Glyfada', Issue 220, GR
KTIRIO
'Public nursery in Glyfada'. Issue 09/17, GR
K
'Back to simplicity', Kathimerini, Issue 723, GR
KTIRIO
'The new headquarters of TaxiBeat in Kolonaki', Issue 03/2017, GR
BHmagazino
'In the shade', 19.03.2017, To Vima, GR
2014 MAS Context
'An Obituary for the Greek City of Repetition', issue 21, Chicago, USA
2013 DOMES - International Review of Architecture magazine
‘Yearbook of Greek Architecture’, issue 118/2013, GR
Athens Voice
Issue 428/2013, GR
KTIRIO
Issue 02/2013, GR
2011 KTIRIO
Issue 231/2011, GR
Design + Art in Greece
Annual Review, issue 41/2010, GR
2009 OZON
Issue 74/2009, GR
2005 Design + Art in Greece
Issue 36/2005, GR
Online
2017 The Guardian 'Wěndìng fánróng: The contradictions of Hong Kong'.
DEZEEN 'Hong Kong's densely packed high-rises captured from above,
in drone movie by Mariana Bisti'.
Archdaily 'This Drone Video Captures the Mesmerizing Geometries of
The World's Most Vertical City'.
Guardian Cities 'Wěndìng fánróng: The contradictions of Hong Kong'.
INSIDEART 'Mariana Bisti's Hong Kong'.
LIFO 'Hong Kong as seen from above by a greek architect'.
HKFP 'Hong Kong’s maddening density explored by drone'.
Daily Review 'Mariana Bisti's meditative exploration of Hong Kong by drone'.
Architizer 'Zurbaran Bar/Cafe'.
Architizer 'Summer House in Halkidiki, Greece'.
DOMUS 'The Olive Tree house'.
DETAIL 'Perforated refuge: Olive Tree House in Chalkidiki'.
Divisare 'The Olive Tree house'.
Arqa 'The Olive Tree house'.
Archdaily 'Public nursery in Glyfada'.
Archdaily 'The Olive Tree house'.
Plataforma Arquitectura 'Guardería pública en Glyfada'.
ARCHISEARCH.GR 'Inside-Out' Seeks to Re-invent the Typology
of Polykatoikia.
OZON 'The reinvented Polykatoikia in Neo Psychiko, awarded by
the Hellenic Institute of Architecture'.
ARCHISEARCH.GR 'The New Taxibeat Headquarters in Athens'.
LIFO 'Re-inventing the Greek Polykatoikia in Neo Psychiko'.
Athensvoice 'The house in the emrbace of the olive tree'.
2016 Photo Fringe 'Interview with Mariana Bisti - OPEN16 Solo shortlisted artist'.
UCL NEWS ‘The New EU Flag’: art installation at UCL'
UniPaper 'A new EU flag flies over UCL'.
neweuropeans.org 'New Europe flags'.
AVGI.GR 'The death of the European dream'.
POPAGANDA 'Mariana Bisti raised a New EU Flag'.
LIFO 'The New EU Flag, a work by Mariana Bisti'.
ARCHISEARCH.GR 'Reintroducing the MAXXI Museum by Zaha Hadid
Architects'.
2015 WIP 'The Greek Depression', issue 17.
2014 LIFO 'The outstanding gaze of Mariana Bisti aka murplejane'.