‘MEANINGS’. Personifications and Allegories from Antiquity to Today
 

Curated by Professor Nikolaos Chr. Stampolidis and his associates.

The Acropolis Museum

DEC 4, 2023 - APR 12, 2024

The Acropolis Museum's "NoHMATA: Meanings" exhibition vividly showcases how emotions, celestial bodies, geographical entities, and abstract notions like justice are personified across different eras, from Antiquity through Byzantium, the Renaissance, to Modern Art. It brings together a diverse array of artworks, including statues, paintings, and coins, to explore themes of love, desire, sleep, envy, and more, alongside depictions of nature, deities, and human experiences. The exhibition, described as a tetralogy, uses the concept of 'meaning' (NoΗΜΑ) as a thread (NΗMA) to weave together these varied elements, culminating in the display of a significant piece—a bronze Chimera from 400 B.C., symbolizing the intertwined complexity of all things human. 

Allegory of Slander, ca. 1530, Sandro Boticelli, Rome, Galleria Colonna

The four seasons by Yannis Tsarouxis, Acropolis Museum

George Seferis: Sixty years since the Nobel Prize

Curated by Constantinos Papachristou

Benaki Museum, The Ghika Gallery

OCT 25, 2023 - MAR 9, 2024

George Seferis: Sixty Years Later" at the Benaki Museum revisits the poet's 1963 Nobel Prize with a vivid exhibition. Showcasing Seferis' Nobel alongside artefacts, photos, and personal memorabilia from the Gennadius Library and private collections, it unfolds in three acts: the announcement day, the award night, and the ripple effect of press and personal congratulations that followed. This immersive journey not only celebrates a historic moment but also intimately portrays Seferis, bridging his monumental achievement with the personal through posters, newspapers, and audio-visuals. A tribute to his enduring legacy, sixty years on.

AN ERRATIC STORM: Reaching Out to The Infinite

Featuring artworks by Manolis D. Lemos, Maria Mavropoulou, Petros Moris, Pauline Pastry, Mercedes Pimiento

Curated by Dinos Chatzirafailidis

Alkinois Project Space

JAN 26, 2024 - FEB 23, 2024

"An Erratic Storm: Reaching Out to the Infinite" looks at how we feel both amazed and scared when thinking about the endless universe. It goes beyond what we usually understand to show how huge and complex the world can be. Through a lens of rapid global change, it captures the alienation and disorientation of modern life, where science, technology, and capitalism expand into boundless territories, often teetering between fascination and horror. The art pieces in the show use different methods to deal with topics that are hard to explain, showing both the beauty and the potential threat of what's beyond what we know.

SPLEEN by Laure Mary-Couégnias

Dio Horia, Athens

JAN 20, 2024 - FEB 24, 2024

Laure Mary's "Spleen" invites viewers into a dreamlike escape, blending a passion for life with the pursuit of beauty and dreams. This exhibition, despite its nod to current dark events, offers a poetic perspective by celebrating resilience and hope through surreal paintings and floral murals. It features a mix of everyday and fantastical elements, from mountain landscapes to floating dandelions and origami. Mary's unique method starts with poetry, transforming her words into visual art that merges classical techniques with surrealist influences. Her work, rich in light and shadow, explores themes of solitude and the search for peace and connection.

Neo-Impressionism in the Colours of the Mediterranean

Curated by Marina Ferretti Bocquillon, Marie Koutsomallis-Moreau

Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation

JAN 10, 2024 – APR 7, 2024

The exhibition “Neo-Impressionism in the Colours of the Mediterranean” (1891-1914) takes place in collaboration with important European museums and organisations including the Musée d’Orsay, the National Gallery in London, Centre Pompidou and others, as well as European private collectors. The exhibition features artworks by Paul Signac, Henri-Edmond Cross, Maximilien Luce, Théo van Rysselberghe, Henri Matisse, Henri Manguin and Louis Valtat, most of which will go on display for the first time in Greece.

VIAGGIO AL TERMINE DELLA NOTTE by Alfredo Romano

Curated by Galini Lazani

Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Center

FEB 15, 2024 - MAR 30, 2024

At the Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Center, Alfredo Romano’s art invites viewers into a world where time is not just a sequence of events, but a dimension that can be felt and seen. His ability to transform everyday materials into profound expressions of time’s impact on both the physical and metaphysical realms challenges our perceptions of history, memory, and existence. This exhibition is a thought-provoking journey that encourages us to contemplate our place in the continuum of time and culture. Through his art, Romano provides a unique lens to view the layers of human experience, urging us to consider how we interact with the past, present, and future.

WOMEN, together

Curated by Katerina Gregos and Eleni Koukou

National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens

DEC 14, 2023 – OCT 27, 2024

The National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens shines a spotlight on women in art this season, with a powerful series of exhibitions dedicated to celebrating female artists. EMST boldly addresses the historical under-representation of women in art by featuring 49 works from 25 diverse artists, including ten Greeks, in its first collection rehang. This exhibition doesn't stick to one narrative but instead explores a rich array of themes like gender, identity, and the human condition through works that reflect on social, political, and cultural issues. It's a thoughtful showcase that challenges gender inequality and invites reflection on the broader narratives shaping Greece and beyond.

WOVEN NARRATIVES: Beyond the Horizon, Under the Skin

Curated by Efie Falida

SEN (Association for Women's Education)

JAN 30, 2024 – currently

As the SEN (Association for Women's Education) marks its 150th year, it launches a new initiative, "Woven Narratives: Beyond the Horizon, Under the Skin," showcasing the craft of female artisans through four visual pieces in the association's store. The project begins with Sevastiana Konstaki's installation "Handwritings of the SEN," highlighting a collection of traditional female artisan tools like spinning wheels and loom-woven textiles. These carefully handcrafted or decorated items, often personalized with names or dedications, symbolize the enduring impact of women trained at the SEN, showcasing their contribution to family income or personal financial independence.

"SURFACES, INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE: The Dialectical Relationship Between Everyday Life and Material" by Rena Papaspyrou

Curated by Sofia Eliza Bouratsis

Alexandros Soutsos Museum - National Gallery

DEC 12, 2023 – JUN 16, 2024

The exhibition "Surfaces, Instructions for Use: The Dialectical Relationship Between Everyday Life and Material" begins with Balbeeks, an artwork from the collection of the National Gallery - Alexandros Soutzos Museum, portraying a female figure emerging in space. It features Rena Papaspyrou's works spanning from 1976 to the present, including two new pieces created for the exhibition. Papaspyrou's art explores image diversity, materiality, perception, aesthetics of daily life, and the human mind's imagery and free association. The exhibition highlights how Papaspyrou, a woman, mother, artist, and first female professor in an Athens School of Fine Arts studio, transforms daily demands into an artistic realm, transcending conventional boundaries.

TOWARDS THE LIGHT by Rika Pana

Curated by Elisavet Plessa

Municipal Art Gallery of Athens

FEB 15, 2024 – MAR 17, 2024

The exhibition showcases about 80 paintings by the artist, both on canvas and paper. Her deeply human-centered paintings, marked by a strongly gestural style against typically monochromatic backgrounds, explore themes such as protest lack of freedom, denunciation of cultural erosion, identity search, despair, and hope. Rika Pana's work, influenced by her experiences during the civil war, Axis occupation, dictatorship, and health challenges from a young age, remains poignant and relevant today.

Re(a)Duchamp

Curated by Kyrillos Sarris

Eleftheria Tseliou Gallery

FEB 21, 2024 – MAR 30, 2024

The Eleftheria Tseliou Gallery introduces Greece's first-ever exhibition of Marcel Duchamp's works, titled Re(a)Duchamp. As he gathered and processed notes and studies on glass, Duchamp envisioned using painting to provoke thought, shifting away from mere visual appeal to engage with the philosophical essence of art. This led to two significant movements in contemporary art. Firstly, in the late '50s, Duchamp was rediscovered as a creator of objects rather than solely a surrealist, influencing neo-dadaism and pop art, thanks to Rauschenberg, Johns, and Hamilton. Secondly, by the end of the '60s, Duchamp's work was reinterpreted by conceptual artists like Kosuth, Hubler, and Wiener, pioneering the conceptual art movement.