March’s picks – best exhibitions in Athens

Tom Wesselmann: Seascapes, Still Lifes, and Nudes, Gagosian Gallery
Tom Wesselmann, perhaps the most important American artist of late modernism, was the one who, in many ways, brought the Pop Art movement — which began with Andy Warhol about a decade earlier — to its conclusion.
He is best known for “Great American Nude” (1961) and the roughly one hundred paintings that followed under the same title. Like Warhol, he drew from both high and low culture, translating them into the language of art to create a sharp snapshot of American popular culture of his time.
Wesselmann pushed Pop Art beyond merely reflecting the phenomenon to becoming the phenomenon itself. His paintings, flat and intensely colorful, often resemble advertisements, and his brilliant twist was to base many of his symbols on familiar representations of women from art history, such as the reclining nude.
This is a rare opportunity to see a retrospective spanning his entire career, in the center of Athens.
March 17 – May 30 2026 at Gagosian Athens, 22 Anapiron Polemou St. Athens
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Jeff Koons, Balloon Venus Lespugue (Orange), Museum of Cycladic Art
This is not a solo exhibition in the classical sense. Visitors expecting a comprehensive Jeff Koons show may be disappointed: the presentation consists of a single sculpture placed in dialogue with works from the museum’s collection.
Still, it is significant for two reasons. First, it follows our recommendation of Tom Wesselmann. The link between these two major artists is key to understanding the development of Western — and especially American — art. Koons pushed Pop Art beyond Wesselmann, just as he extended Warhol’s legacy, carrying it into contemporary art through his monumental, larger-than-life transformations of popular imagery.
Second, the Museum of Cycladic Art itself is central. One of Athens’ most compelling museums, it has in recent years deepened the dialogue between past and present, particularly around the female body, gender, and feminism.
Here, Koons’ sculpture — inspired by the 28,000-year-old Venus of Lespugue — revisits a foundational archetype of the female form that shaped the history of Western art.
March 19 – August 21 2026, at the Museum of Cyclasic Art,  4 Neophytou Douka st. Athens
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Yorgos Lanthimos, Photographs, Onassis Stegi
Yorgos Lanthimos is an award-winning Greek director and screenwriter, considered one of the most unique and influential voices in contemporary cinema. He is recognized as a central figure in the “Greek Weird Wave,” and his films are known for their blend of absurdity, dark humor, and unsettling situations. Beyond his film work, he also directs commercials, music videos, and dance performances. In the contemporary art scene, he is acclaimed for his remarkable photography.
In fact, his still photography can be seen as an integral part of a continuous artistic language. Often, he shoots on film sets, revealing behind-the-scenes perspectives, and even in his staged photography, he brings elements of the absurd, surreal, and unsettling atmosphere that characterize his films. The upcoming exhibition promises to be large-scale, in-depth, and emotionally and intellectually engaging.
March 7 – May 17 2026, at Onassis Stegi, 107 Syngrou Avenue, Athens
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