Greece's Burgeoning Contemporary Art Scene - National Museum of Contemporary Art and the Deste Foundation Center for Contemporary Art in Athens - Brief Article

Art in America, Sept, 2001 by David Ebony

In a country whose identity is closely tied to the art of antiquity, Greece's contemporary artists have had to work hard to earn even a modicum of attention. Lately, however, they have been receiving some help from two art institutions in Athens devoted to works by living artists, the Deste Foundation Center for Contemporary Art and the National Museum of Contemporary Art.

The privately funded Deste Center operates under the auspices of the Deste Foundation, established by Greek businessman and collector Dakis Joannou in 1983. Until recently, the Deste Center presented exhibitions in temporary spaces throughout Athens. Now it permanently occupies three floors of a renovated former paper warehouse in Neo Psychico, an upscale commercial and residential district close to the center of town. Designed by New York architect Christian Hubert, the 13,000-square-foot space includes spacious galleries, an archive of material relating to emerging artists, a cafe, a cybercafe, a bookstore and a gift shop.

The center's lively program includes the Deste Prize, an award given every two years to recognize young, experimental Greek artists. This year's prize, only the second one given, went to Georgia Sagri, a 22-year-old performance artist living in Athens. Sagri beat out finalists Christos Athanassiades, Sia Kyriakakos, Dimitra Lazaridou, Eleni Lyra, Andreas Savva and Despina Christou, artists working in a variety of mediums ranging from painting and sculpture to video, photography and installation. The 2001 prize includes 3 million drachmas (about $8,500) plus a travel grant.

The shortlisted artists were selected by a committee of prominent Greek critics and educators along with Deste Center director Katerina Gregos. The winner was chosen by a jury that included Joannou as well as curators James Rondeau and Alison Gingeras, of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Centre Pompidou, respectively. Sagri won the prize for In the Shop Window, a work in which she moved the entire contents of her bedroom to a storefront with a large picture window on a busy Athens shopping street. She resided there for a week this past spring. Blurring the boundaries between public and personal space, and exploring issues related to surveillance and privacy, the work was documented in a 15-minute video that is on view, along with works by all seven finalists, at the Deste Center, through Sept. 30.

Adding to the considerable energy of Athens's growing contemporary art scene is the National Museum of Contemporary Art, which debuted last autumn. The country's sole national institution devoted to contemporary work, the museum is located in another large renovated downtown space, the former Fix Factory, once a brewery. At present, only the ground floor of the five-story building, originally designed by architect Takis Zanetos, is open to the public; renovation of the entire structure is in progress. Under the direction of Anna Kafetsi, the museum plans to complete the project in time for the 2004 Olympic Games, to be held in Athens.