MONTH IN REVIEW: June 2024
A roundup of this month’s art and design news about the makers and creators from Greece and Cyprus
Michael Werner Gallery opened a new location in Athens
The gallery, which has locations in New York, Berlin, London, and Los Angeles, opened it’s newest spot in Athens this month. The inaugural exhibition Accrochage features work by gallery artists including Georg Baselitz, Sigmar Polke, Issy Wood, and more.
The gallery is located at Leoforos Vasileos Georgiou 10, near the Presidential Palace in the Anáktora neighborhood of the city. The interiors are by Mare Studio and offer an eclectic experience for visitors: mid-century and vintage pieces are mixed with custom-build furniture. There are three exhibition spaces and a private viewing room. The welcome area has white walls, while the private viewing room has pops of color such as burnt orange.
The gallery will host two exhibitions a year.
@ulrikekochbrinkmann
The DESTE Foundation celebrated the opening of George Condo’s solo exhibition The Mad and the Lonely
The DESTE Foundation hosted an opening party for George Condo’s exhibition at its project space set in a former slaughterhouse on Hydra. The small-scale paintings and sculptures in this show were selected from the artist’s career and follow the tradition of portraiture. They offer depictions of disparate souls in life who have been rejected by society and who linger between states of madness and loneliness. They are victims of their own internal circumstances, and Condo expresses this chaos through abstracted forms. This cast of characters are all fictional and embody social uncertainties, psychological realities, and anguish that is characteristic of the current age. Condo investigates human nature and critiques modern life through these figures that show volatile emotions and mental states.
Netflix announced that it will release its first ever Cypriot film
Written and directed by Stelana Kliris, Find me Falling is a romantic film set in Cyprus. In the film, actor Harry Connick Jr. stars as an aging rock legend who escapes to the island to take a break from his career. During his time in Cyprus, he is faced with dramatic characters and complicated surprises, such as when he runs into an old flame.
The movie will be available on Netflix on July 19. It will play in select theaters in Cyprus.
It was announced that 60 Cypriot antiques will be repatriated
These antiques that were looted during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 will be returned following an agreement between Cyprus and German authorities. This event marks the end of the Aydin Dikmen case about the smuggling of antiques. Dikmen is a Turkish antiques smuggler who, in collaboration with the occupation regime and accomplices, was responsible for the removal of antiques and monuments from Orthodox, Maronite, and Armenian Christian sites and personal collections since the 70s. 24 ecclesiastical relics and 36 prehistoric pieces, among other antiquities, are included in this repatriation.
According to the Director of the Office for Combating Illegal Possession and Trafficking of Antiquities Michalis Gavrielidis, over 16,000 Christian icons, mosaics and murals dating from to 6th and 5th centuries have been forcibly stolen and sold abroad since the Turkish invasion in 1974.
“Sketches from Life” is Dimitris Papaioannou’s first book. It is a collector’s edition composed of 240 pages of sketches from the director, choreographer, and visual artist that were inspired by his three summers on the Cycladic island of Anafi. It features graphite drawings of everything from naked bodies to serene landscapes.
Earlier this month Papaioannou hosted a conversation in partnership with NOMAS editor Linda Stefanou at the Atrium of the Muses of Megaron Athens in celebration of the book. Following the discussion about his publication and artistry, Papaioannou signed copies of the book for guests. NOMAS magazine published the book and the art direction and design is by Karlopoulos & Associates.
The New York Times reported on Mouki Mou’s latest fashion event in its store in Athens
Mouki Mou is a fashion and lifestyle store from London that opened a store in Athens last year. It houses niche clothing, accessories, and homeware brands that have a focus on craftsmanship and a wabi-sabi-like approach. The store’s latest party was for Dosa, a clothing brand, which was founded by an American-based Korean designer, that makes roomy wares made with hand-woven fabrics.
The event was on the store’s rooftop terrace, which overlooks Athens and is filled with plantings such as oregano, jasmine, and thyme. Guests got to see, feel, and try on pieces from Dosa’s new collection that is currently on sale at the store. It features kaftan dresses, camisoles, and loose pants and shawls in creamy hues with touches of gold accents.
Maria Lemnos, the founder of Mouki Mou and the London-based showroom Rainbowwave, invited Christina Kim, the founder of Dosa, to design an art installation for the store. “Shades of White / Whisper of Gold” is an art piece that is a curtain of gold leaves created in partnership with a Oaxacan paper-making co-op. Each paper was made using the impression of a bay leaf from a tree outside the co-ops workshop.
Attendees came from far and wide, from Los Angeles to New York to London. Local artists and creators were there as well. Mouki Mou served Greek rose and lemonade, shelled Aegean pistachios, heartier snacks such as phyllo pies, stuffed zucchini flowers, and more. Musicians Spiros Mandalas and Dimitris Christodoulopoulos played the mandolin and the guitar and sung Ionian and Athenian kantades.
