The ‘contact’ has a schedule, strict terms, and an invisible grid that only admiration allows. Things are different in an art gallery. The visitor has the opportunity to develop a different type of relationship with the work, more ‘sensual’, while his presence adds to the pool of recognition of both the artist and his/her work.
In the galleries of Athens, many works were presented before they became part of museum collections. Therefore, we dedicate the following guide to rooms whose exhibitions do not go unnoticed by the art-loving public.
Below please find 10+1 art galleries in Athens, that shape the art world of the city today.
The gallery Zoumboulaki essentially introduced contemporary art to the homes and lives of Athenians. In 1960, Greek artists of the '30s generation (Tsarouchis, Chatzikyriakos-Gikas, Moralis, Tetsis, etc.) were presented for the first time in the gallery on Kriezotou Street. In 1966 they founded their first contemporary art gallery, which included artists of the '60s generation. Among them are Fasianos, Tsoklis, Pavlos, Akrithakis, Kessanlis, etc. At the same time, the gallery begins its collaboration with Alexandros Iolas. Names like De Chirico, Matta, Lallannes, Man Ray, etc. exhibit for the first time in a Greek gallery. The sculptor Takis inaugurates the gallery space in Kolonaki Square. At the same time, young art lovers and collectors are increasingly multiplying.
Today, with Daphne Zoumboulaki taking over the management of the Gallery in Kolonaki, artists of the '80s and 90s generation frame the permanent collaborators, while since 2007 with the "ZONE D" group she organizes exhibitions outside the gallery, aimed at presenting new trends in international contemporary art.
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In the first exhibition of the gallery Rebecca Camhi in 1995 the works of the American avant-garde, photographer Nan Goldin showed that Greece can come closer to the big centers that determine its form visual aesthetics. For the past 19 years, the art gallery has continued its activity at a steady pace, introducing to the Greek public important foreign and Greek artists, with the meeting point being the renovated two-story neoclassical building on Leonidiou Street in Metaxourgeio.
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The Athens Art Gallery has completed 51 years of presence. It was founded by Marilena Liakopoulou in the Hilton area. The dictatorship ‘sealed’ the room when the exhibition was being prepared with the installation of the prison of Maria Karavela and the paintings with the tortures of the prisons of Elias Dekoulakos. In the space where it is today, it started operating in 1973. In its long course, the Athens Art Gallery presents important Greek artists of the Diaspora as well as newcomers. At the same time, it hosts solo exhibitions of artists from the international arena.
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The Bernier / Eliades gallery was founded in 1977 and has dynamically imposed its presence in the field of contemporary art. In 1999, after 22 years of presence in the center of Athens in Kolonaki, he found himself in the building of eclecticism in Thiseio at the foot of the Acropolis. During its operation, the gallery has introduced to the Greek public American, European, and Greek artists representing artistic currents, such as Arte Povera, minimalism, and conceptual art.
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The gallery Ekfrasi - Yianna Grammatopoulou became part of the Greek exhibition map in 1983 in Glyfada. In 2000, a new exhibition space was inaugurated in Athens, on Valaoritou Street, where it is located today. The activity of the gallery is characterized by the multiplicity of artistic views expressed with the work of contemporary distinguished Greek and foreign artists, through exhibitions of painting, sculpture, photography, installations, and video. Also, from the beginning of its operation, it presented the work of young talented creators who were then established and recognized in the field.
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Of particular interest to Greece, the Balkans, and the MENASA region (Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia), the Kalfayan gallery was founded in Thessaloniki in 1995 and 2000 opened a space in Athens. The art space collaborates with renowned as well as young emerging Greek artists. A key aspect of the program is the presentation of the evolution of art in Greece through regular exhibitions, reflecting its unique character acting as a bridge between Eastern and Western visual culture. The gallery has created an international profile through various programs such as participation in art exhibitions and collaborations with museums and art institutions.
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Pluralism and diversity, both of the views it presents and how they are expressed are the main axes of the exhibition activity of the gallery Kaplanon. The gallery was founded in 2007 and according to its articles of association, it highlights, promotes, and disseminates works of contemporary, renowned creators, Greek and foreign. Sculpture holds a prominent place in their annual art program. At the same time, the Hall produces and supports remarkable activities of general cultural interest.
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The Center of Contemporary Art Ileana Tounta opened in 1988 and was the first multipurpose space of its kind in Athens. The Center, which specializes in Greek and international contemporary art, has covered a wide range of activities in its long-term presence in the Greek art scene. So far it has organized over 150 exhibitions of contemporary art on its premises.
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Stathis Panagoulis and George Vamvakidis founded in 2002 the gallery The Breeder. Based in Metaxourgeio, since 2008 he has introduced to the Greek public foreign artists of international scope such as Ryan McGinley, Gert & Uwe Tobias, Mindy Shapero, while at the same time he represents exclusively Greek artists with international careers such as Giannis Varelas, Stelios Faitis.
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On the fourth floor of the building located at 20 Aristophanous Street in the Psyrri district, Angeliki Antonopoulou has formed the gallery A. Antonopoulou Art since the beginning of the last decade. The gallery collaborates with established Greek and foreign artists as well as young creators. Oriented to contemporary art. Also, part of the gallery's activities is the production and organization of exhibitions in other areas, as part of the larger events.
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To cover as best as possible the multifaceted character of contemporary art is the goal of Gallery Skoufa. The room of Gallery Skoufa, which has been operating since 1981, hosts mainly contemporary Greek paintings starting from the generation of the '30s until the next generations of contemporary Greek art.
Website here
Feature Image - Maria Louizou at Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Center
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