Courtesy: Zoumboulakis Galley

Your Insider’s Guide to Athens Art Galleries

Courtesy: Zoumboulakis Galley

Athens is heaven for art-lovers. The capital’s art scene is red-hot and Athenian galleries are a great place to eavesdrop on what local artists think and feel about current issues. A city art insider distills the vibrant gallery circuit in Athens.

By Kiriakos Spirou

Kolonaki

With over 20 galleries, big and small, scattered around the slopes of Mount Lycabettus, Kolonaki is Athens’ art HQ. There’s something to see (and buy) for every taste. Keep an eye out for the smaller and younger spaces; they’re great for scouting promising new talent.

a yellow dining table, dishes and candles on top, three paintings on the wall behind.

Zoumboulakis Gallery

The Zoumboulakis Gallery has represented some of the biggest names in Greek art for over 50 years. Back in the day, the gallery would exhibit stellar names like Dali, Magritte and Picasso, and collaborated with the Alexandre Iolas Gallery in New York. Its main space, right on Kolonaki Square, opened in the early 1970s, and championed Greek artists of the time such as Takis and Chryssa. Current director Daphne Zoumboulakis continues the family quest to promote noteworthy Greek art and help promising younger artists grow their reputation. The gallery also operates a fantastic design and antiques shop just off Syntagma Square.

Photo courtesy of Zoumboulakis Gallery

Gagosian Athens

The name of mega-gallerist Larry Gagosian is associated with some of the biggest stars of the international contemporary art scene. With locations across the USA, Europe, and in Hong Kong, the Gagosian gallery opened its Athens location in 2017, at a small ground-floor apartment near Syntagma. It later moved into a majestic modernist mansion further uphill on Lycabettus, in a quiet and prestigious corner of Kolonaki. Apart from the world-standard exhibitions that are frequently on display, the all-white listed building is reason enough to visit. At Athens, the Gagosian shows artists with links to Greece — such as Brice Marden, an American minimalist painter who fell in love with Hydra back in the 1970s and produced many of his works there — as well as other well-known and highly collectible names such as Sterling Ruby and Giuseppe Penone.

Photo courtesy of Gagosian Athens

a view of an installation with multiple canvases.

Kalfayan Gallery

For almost a century, the Armenian Kalfayan family has collected artefacts of Armenian culture, in order to preserve and document its traditions. Since 1995, they’ve also taken to exhibiting contemporary art, first with a gallery in Thessaloniki and then with this one in Kolonaki. The gallery represents some of the most important contemporary Greek artists, including the estates of historical figures of 20th century Greek art. It also showcases younger talent, both in its galleries and at art fairs internationally. Shaped like a big glass box, this Kolonaki gallery always has something worth seeing.

Photo courtesy of Kalfayan Gallery, Panos Tsagaris' installation view, 2022

Eleftheria Tseliou Gallery

Eleftheria Tseliou's gallery is a bit of a speakeasy: it doesn't have a website, and it occupies an unassuming apartment on Irodotou Street. Passers-by will definitely miss it, but visitors in the know will ring the doorbell, climb the stairs to the lobby, and ring again. You’ll be greeted by the gallerist herself and rewarded with a careful edit of contemporary art, spanning several generations of talented Greek artists. Eleftheria Tseliou has run this Kolonaki gallery since 2013, and has a keen eye for young and older artists who produce cutting-edge work using traditional media—like painting, drawing and clay—in new, original ways.

Photo courtesy of Eleftheria Tseliou Gallery

More to see in Kolonaki: Nitra Gallery, Crux Gallery, Athens Art Gallery, Alma Gallery, Evripides Gallery, Skoufa Gallery.

Syntagma

The area between Kolonaki and Syntagma Square mixes state affairs, embassies, museums and high-profile law firms. The galleries here are more than dressed for the part.

a view of the gallery's inside, artworks around.

Allouche Benias Gallery

This is the Athenian sibling of Allouche Gallery in New York. One of the most recent arrivals on the Athenian gallery scene, Allouche Benias opened its doors near Syntagma Square in June 2018 with a group show of four American artists. Since then, the gallery has established a programme directly influenced by pop-art and street-art, which is in direct dialogue with current developments in American and Greek painting. Even if contemporary painting is not high on your agenda, the stately Deligiorgis Mansion—currently housing the gallery and designed by Ernst Ziller himself—on the corner of Akadimias and Kanari streets is reason enough to visit.

Photo courtesy of Allouche Benias Gallery

the gallery as seem from the road, empty white walls.

More to see in Syntagma: Ikastikos Kiklos DL

Acropolis

Thissio & Petralona

Low-rise buildings and slow traffic make the urban neighbourhoods of Thissio and Petralona deal for gallery walks and outings. The galleries here are part of the old guard, but never run out of fresh ideas.

three large paintings hanging on two white walls.

Eleni Koroneou Gallery

Gallerist Eleni Koroneou first opened an artspace in 1989 with a strong focus on European and American artists like Martin Kippenberger, Christopher Wool, Michael Schmidt, Michel Majerus, and Helmut Middendorf. Twenty years later, in 2009, her daughter Alexandra Oikonomou joined the gallery and together they opened a new space in Petralona. Specialising in contemporary painting and always maintaining a strong international profile, Eleni Koroneou Gallery represents established painters from abroad, but also supports local emerging talent like Eirene Efstathiou and Lito Kattou.

Photo courtesy of Eleni Koroneou Gallery, Gerasimos Floratos' installation view, 2021

Monastiraki & Psirri

There's contemporary art even in Athens’ most touristy area, Monastiraki, if you know where to look.

The Project Gallery

Hidden somewhere in the antique shop-filled alleys of Monastiraki, The Project Gallery was founded in 2018 and is a space for new visual art. The entrance is almost blocked by second-hand closets and vanity sets, but walk past them and into the arcade to find the staircase that leads up to the gallery space (also accessible via elevator). Inside, a very modern and cleancut exhibition space sharply contradicts the atmosphere of the street outside. Exhibitions here are often group shows, presenting the work of interesting local and international artists—while on the programme you will also find performances, talks and other events. After looking at the art, a mandatory drink at the building’s famed rooftop bar should be on your agenda.

Photo courtesy of The Project Gallery

More to see in Monastiraki: a.antonopoulou.art Gallery, TAF The Art Foundation

Metaxourgeio & Keramikos

The plan to posh-up Keramikos and Metaxourgeio back in the Noughties didn't quite stick, but the edgy galleries that relocated here as part of that movement have stayed.

an installation of two different artworks in brown colour.

artworks hanging on the gallery's walls.

More to see in Metaxourgeio: We Are Bud project space, Athens Municipal Gallery, ATOPOS CVC, Vamiali's Gallery

Ambelokipi

A short walk from Kolonaki and the Athens Concert Hall, the northern slopes of Mount Lycabettus are worth exploring if you'd prefer to veer off the tourist path.

Art adventures in the Athens suburbs

Venture beyond the city centre to discover gallery gems that are well worth your time.

facades of old mechanical shops in Piraeus

More outside the city centre: Depo Darm Contemporary Art Space, Rodeo Gallery, Carwan Gallery, The Intermission, DL Gallery

Where we’ve been

Eleftheria Tseliou Gallery

3 Heraklitou, Kolonaki, 106 73
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Gagosian Gallery

22 Anapiron Polemou, Kolonaki, 115 21
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Kalfayan Gallery

11 Haritos, Kolonaki, 106 75
Read more
Zoumboulakis Gallery

6 Kriezotou, Kolonaki 106 71
Read more
Allouche Benias Gallery

1 Kanari, Athens, 106 71
Read more
Ekfrasi Yianna Grammatopoulou Gallery

9a Valaoritou, Athens, 106 71
Read more
Dio Horia Gallery Acropolis

5-7 Lempesi & 16 Porinou, Acropolis, 117 42
Read more
Bernier Eliades Gallery

11 Eptahalkou, Thissio, 118 51
Read more
Eleni Koroneou Gallery

30 Dimofontos & 7 Thorikion, Petralona, 118 51
Read more
The Project Gallery

3 Normanou, Monastiraki, 105 55
Read more
The Breeder Gallery

45 Iasonos, Metaxourgio, 104 36
Read more
Rebecca Camhi Gallery

9 Leonidou, Metaxourgio, 104 37
Read more
Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Centre

48 Armatolon & Klefton, Ambelokipi, 114 71
Read more
The Blender Gallery

4 Zisimopoulou, Glyfada, 166 74
Read more

Eat & Drink

Eat & Drink

Eat & Drink

Eat & Drink

Your Insider’s Guide to Athens Art Galleries

Athens is heaven for art-lovers. The capital’s art scene is red-hot and Athenian galleries are a great place to eavesdrop on what local artists think and feel about current issues. A city art insider distills the vibrant gallery circuit in Athens.

Kolonaki

With over 20 galleries, big and small, scattered around the slopes of Mount Lycabettus, Kolonaki is Athens’ art HQ. There’s something to see (and buy) for every taste. Keep an eye out for the smaller and younger spaces; they’re great for scouting promising new talent.

Syntagma

The area between Kolonaki and Syntagma Square mixes state affairs, embassies, museums and high-profile law firms. The galleries here are more than dressed for the part.

Acropolis

Low-rise buildings and slow traffic make the urban neighbourhoods of Thissio and Petralona deal for gallery walks and outings. The galleries here are part of the old guard, but never run out of fresh ideas.

Monastiraki & Psirri

There's contemporary art even in Athens’ most touristy area, Monastiraki, if you know where to look.

Metaxourgeio & Keramikos

The plan to posh-up Keramikos and Metaxourgeio back in the Noughties didn't quite stick, but the edgy galleries that relocated here as part of that movement have stayed.

Ambelokipi

A short walk from Kolonaki and the Athens Concert Hall, the northern slopes of Mount Lycabettus are worth exploring if you'd prefer to veer off the tourist path.

Art adventures in the Athens suburbs

Venture beyond the city centre to discover gallery gems that are well worth your time.