On Wednesday, 11 February 2026, the major retrospective exhibition “Alexis Akrithakis, A Line Like a Wave” opened at the Benaki Museum / Pireos 138, presenting the full scope of the emblematic artist’s creative journey. The exhibition is co-organized by the Benaki Museum and the Akrithakis Archive, curated by Chloe Akrithaki and Alexios Papazacharias, and will run from 12 February to 24 May 2026.
At the same time, the exhibition marks the beginning of the Benaki Museum’s partnership with Rolex as the Museum’s “Official Watch,” placing it within the global network of leading cultural institutions supported by the Swiss maison.
The exhibition brings together more than 250 selected works from private and public collections, spanning all creative periods of the artist and presented chronologically. For the first time in a retrospective exhibition, Akrithakis’ earliest works are shown alongside those completed shortly before his death. The works reveal Akrithakis’ distinctive visual universe, featuring familiar motifs such as eyes and hearts, arrows and bows, suitcases, boats, waves, and more. At the same time, they unfold the adventure of painting itself—its materials and constructions—while highlighting the unique sense of color that characterizes his work.
Immediate, incisive, and subversive, Akrithakis’ works represent a singular case within modern Greek art. With disarming sincerity and a deeply personal visual language, a structured approach to color, and resolute thematic choices, Alexis Akrithakis succeeded—until his untimely death—in creating a body of work that is rich and heterogeneous, yet unmistakably recognizable.
The exhibition is structured around major thematic sections corresponding to key creative periods. These include the psychedelic tempera paintings of the 1960s, the politically charged works of the early 1970s, the “Suitcase” series of the 1970s, the driftwood constructions and light-bulb works of the 1980s, the enlargements and repetitions of the 1990s, and his poignant final works depicting portraits of psychiatric patients from the Dromokaiteio Hospital. The presentation is further enriched by smaller groups of works originally shown in dedicated exhibitions curated by the artist himself, such as the kites, the circus series, airplanes, flowers for suicides, and others—revealing his multidimensional sensitivity toward reality and his critical stance against pretentiousness.
On the occasion of the exhibition, the homonymous publication is released by Agra Publications, edited by Chloe Akrithaki and Alexios Papazacharias and designed by Lila Paleologou. This extensive and multilayered volume offers an in-depth exploration of the work and trajectory of one of the most emblematic artists of contemporary Greek art. The 320-page publication, available in both Greek and English, stands as an autonomous editorial project enabling a comprehensive understanding of Akrithakis’ artistic practice and thought.
About the Artist
Alexis Akrithakis (1939–1994)
Alexis Akrithakis was born in Athens in 1939. From a young age, he associated with leading intellectual figures, and dialogue with them formed the foundation of his artistic education. He lived and worked in Paris (1958–1960) and in Berlin (1968–1984), where he settled with a DAAD scholarship. In 1984, he returned permanently to Greece. His work spans painting, drawing, constructions, and artist’s books, while his explosive creativity also found expression in furniture design and stage design.
Following his death in 1994, his work was presented in major retrospectives: in 1997–1998 at the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki and at the National Gallery in Athens, and in 2003 at the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin. More recently, in 2018, the exhibition “The Stories of Alexis Akrithakis” was presented at the City of Athens Arts Center (Parko Eleftherias), and in 2019 the exhibition “Tsiki-Tsiki” was organized at the Benaki Museum of Greek Culture.
Duration: 12 February – 24 May 2026
Venue: Benaki Museum, Pireos 138, Athens
