Museums & Galleries

Athens's New Museums

In the last few years, a number of new and quite wonderful museums have opened in Athens. The most impressive is Benaki Museum of Islamic Art, 22 Agion Asomaton and Dipylou, Psirri (tel. 210/367-1000; www.benaki.gr; admission 5€; Tues and Thurs-Sun 9am-3pm, Wed 9am-9pm; Metro: Thissio). The stunning collection, one of the world's finest, housed in a 19th-century neoclassical building complex, displays Islamic art (ceramics, carpets, woodcarvings, and other objects, plus two excellent reconstructed living rooms from the Ottoman times and a 17th-century reception room from a Cairo mansion) that date from the 14th century to the present. Labels are in Greek and English. The Epigraphical Museum, 1 Tositsa, Exarchia (tel. 210/821-7637; www.culture.gr; free admission; Tues-Sun 8:30am-3pm; Metro: Victoria) gets points for being a rather unique concept museum as it is a "library of stones." It displays an important collection of Greek inscriptions (lists of war dead, official records, etc.); the most awesome of its displays are the list of the annual payments made by Athens's allies and the decree ordering the evacuation of the city just before the Persian invasion in 480 B.C. The Museum of Traditional Pottery, 4-6 Melidoni, Kerameikos (tel. 210/331-8491; Mon-Tues and Thurs-Fri 9am-3pm, Wed 9am-8pm, Sat 10am-3pm, Sun 10am-4pm; small cafe; Metro: Thissio) has a wide-ranging display of traditional and contemporary Greek pottery, labeled in Greek and English. The National Historical Museum, 13 Stadiou, Plateia Kolokotroni (tel. 210/323-7617; admission 3€, free on Sun; Tues-Sun 9am-2pm; Metro: Syntagma) is housed in Greece's first Parliament building and features Greece's evolution since the fall of Constantinople (present-day Istanbul) in 1453 until the present. Exhibits include weapons, costumes, flags, and paintings, as well as Byzantine and medieval exhibits. The Herakleidon Museum, 16 Iraklidon (tel. 210/346-1981; www.herakleidon-art.gr; free admission; daily 1-9pm; closed mid-Aug; Metro: Thissio), housed in a beautiful neoclassical mansion on the busy cafe strip of Thissio, is an excellent private museum which holds one of the world's biggest collections of M.C. Escher and also hosts various temporary exhibitions. It has a great courtyard cafe and gift shop. In nearby Plaka, Frissiras Museum, 3-7 Moni Asteriou (tel. 210/323-4678; admission 6€; Wed-Thurs 11am-7pm, Fri-Sun 11am-5pm; small cafe; Metro: Akropolis) has innovative and excellent special exhibits as well as a permanent collection of 20th-century and later European art, with labels in English. Pierides Museum of Ancient Cypriot Art, 34-35 Kastorias, Votanikos (tel. 210/348-0000; www.athinais.com.gr; free admission; daily 10am-9pm; Metro: Kerameikos) does just what it says: It records the art -- and politics -- of Cyprus in the Athinais complex. The Spyros Vassiliou Atelier, 5a Webster (tel. 210/ 923-1502; www.spyrosvassiliou.org; admission 4€; Tues and Thurs-Sun 10am-4pm, Wed noon-8pm; Metro: Akropolis) is a museum and archive of one of the most important 20th-century Greek artists -- painter and set designer Spyros Vassiliou (1902-1985), whose influential work is displayed in his former home, a beautiful building right around the block from the Acropolis. During the construction of the National Museum of Contemporary Art, the remains of Aristotle's Lyceum, Rigillis St. (daily 10am-6pm; admission 2€; Metro: Evaggelismos) were found. The elusive ancient school-one of the three great schools of philosophy in ancient Greece -- was long suspected to have been in central Athens, but it wasn't located until 1996. In July 2009, it was opened to the public as an open-air museum with a translucent roof. Plans are now underway to attempt to uncover the site of yet another elusive ancient school -- Plato's Academy.

Galleries

One of the great pleasures of visiting Athens is browsing in its small art galleries, getting a sense of the contemporary Greek art scene, and possibly buying something to take home. Stop in at an opening, if you see a notice -- most are free to the public. For listings, pick up complimentary copies of the quarterlies Art and the City and The Athens Contemporary Art Map (both in Greek and English), are available in hotels and galleries. Here are some galleries to keep an eye out for.

In Plaka, the Athens Gallery, 14 Pandrosou St. (tel. 210/324-6942; www.athensgallery.gr), features all major Greek artists, crafts, ceramics, jewelry, sculptures, and museum copies beautifully displayed over three floors in an elegant 200-year-old neoclassical building. Harma Gallery, 10 Thespidos St. (tel. 210/322-0040; www.athens-gallery.com), features excellent gifts, including flawless replicas of ancient works and impressive contemporary art. Pandora, 70 Adrianou St. (tel. 210/331-4437; www.pandora.gr), has an excellent collection of modern and contemporary art, museum copies, sculptures and ceramics. Frequent shows are held at Melina Mercouri Foundation, 9-11 Polygnotou (tel. 210/331-5601).

In trendy Psirri, AD Gallery, 3 Pallados (tel. 210/322-8785), focuses on modern and conceptual Greek art. a.antonopoulou.art, 20 Aristofanous (tel. 210/321-4994), is one of the most stunning art spaces in the city concentrating on Greek contemporary artists. Els Hanappe Underground, 2 Melanthiou (tel. 210/325-0364; http://els.hanappe.com), showcases young artists from Glasgow, London, and Los Angeles. Epikentro Gallery, 10 Armodiou (tel. 210/331-2187), stages frequent exhibits in its improbable location in the Athens Central Market.

In Thissio, Bernier/Eliades Gallery, 11 Eptachalkou, Thissio (tel. 210/341-3936; www.bernier-eliades.gr), showcases Greek and international artists and stages group exhibitions, as does Kappatos, 6 Agias Irenes (tel. 210/321-7931). Frequent shows are held at Melina Mercouri Cultural Center, Iraklidon and 66 Thessalonikis (tel. 210/345-2150).

Near Gazi, in a beautiful neoclassical building dating back to 1870, you will find the wonderful Athens Municipal Art Gallery, 51 Pireos, Plateia Koumoundourou (tel. 210/324-3023), with a rich collection of more than 2,300 works from leading 19th- and 20th-century Greek artists.

In Metaxourgeio, the neighborhood next in line to receive its own urban makeover, you will find art trailblazer Rebecca Camhi, 9 Leonidou (tel. 210/523-3049; www.rebeccacamhi.com), followed by the Breeder, 45 Iasonos (tel. 210/331-7527; www.thebreedersystem.com), relocated from Psirri, which showcases some of the more interesting up-and-coming artists in solo shows, group shows, and gallery swaps. However, the first gallery to open shop in the area was Gazon Rouge, 15 Victor Hugo (tel. 210/524-8077; www.gazonrouge.com), which apart from being a gallery is also an art publishing house with a bookstore and cafe.

The National Museum of Contemporary Art is set to open in its new Syngrou-Fix location in August 2010 in what appears to be yet another brilliant industrial-to-art conversion, but for now it is housed at the Athens Conservatory, 17-19 Vas. Georgiou (tel. 210/924-5200; www.emst.gr; Tues-Sun 11am-7pm). Nearby at Syntagma, Zoumboulakis Gallery, 7 Kriezotou (tel. 210/363-4454), has exhibitions as well as top-rate range of limited edition prints and posters by leading Greek artists. The highway formerly known as the "industrial wasteland highway," Pireos Avenue, is gaining momentum as one of the city's main culture zones. The stunning Benaki Museum-Pireos Street Annexe, 138 Pireos and Andronikou (tel. 210/345-3111; www.benaki.gr), stages excellent exhibitions, as does the huge multipurpose Technopolis, 100 Pireos (tel. 210/346-0981; www.culture.gr), while the School of Fine Arts, 256 Pireos (tel. 210/480-1315; www.afsa.gr), stages exhibitions by new artists as well as retrospectives by top contemporary Greek artists. Athinais, 34-36 Kastorias (tel. 210/348-0000; www.athinais.com.gr), the former silk factory brilliantly restored into a multipurpose arts center, also stages exhibitions and shows. The Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Center, 48 Armatolon-Klefton, Ambelokipi (tel. 210/643-9466; www.art-tounta.gr), stages first-rate exhibitions.

The fashionable Kolonaki district is chockablock with galleries. At Astrolavos Art Life, 11 Irodotou (tel. 201/722-1200; www.astrolavos.gr), excellent exhibitions from young and upcoming artists, trendy art space, and the gallery downstairs features works by established Greek and Greek-American artists. The Medusa Art Gallery, 7 Xenokratous (tel. 210/724-4552; www.medusaartgallery.com), features the work of tomorrow's stars today and showcases everything from video to photography, painting, and sculpture. Another gallery open year-round and well worth a visit (in part for its great cafe and shop) is Deste Foundation for Contemporary Art, 8 Omirou, Neo Psychico (tel. 210/672-9460; www.deste.gr), a 20-minute cab ride from Syntagma. Deste, owned by collector Dakis Joannou, showcases cutting-edge works from the international scene.