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Titled Jannis Psychopedis: Landscapes of Memory. The Ones I Kept, the exhibition runs through October 4, 2026, at the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation Museum in Athens. Featuring 70 works spanning from 1962 to the present day, the exhibition traces the evolution of one of Greece’s most influential contemporary artists through pieces drawn from his private collection.

Jannis Psychopedis, “Portrait – Rhoe”, 1998. Oil on canvas, 100 × 100 cm

The exhibition’s defining element is its personal nature. Rather than presenting a conventional retrospective, the show focuses exclusively on works Psychopedis himself preserved over the years, offering an intimate portrait of his artistic journey, influences and recurring themes.

Curated by Kyriakos Koutsomallis, General Director of the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation, the exhibition unfolds across 20 thematic chapters shaped by the artist’s own narratives and reflections.

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Psychopedis first emerged during the liberal cultural climate of the 1960s as a member of the Art Group “A,” the New Greek Realists group and the Centre for Visual Arts. His work reflected the broader international shift toward neo-figuration while remaining deeply connected to both Greek artistic traditions and Western visual culture.

According to the exhibition, this coexistence of two artistic worlds allowed Psychopedis to develop a visual language resistant to the pressures of industrialization and consumerism.

View of the exhibition “Jannis Psychopedis: Landscapes of Memory. The Ones I Kept”

Among the exhibition’s central sections is Anatomy Lesson, which explores Psychopedis’ longstanding fascination with anatomy dating back to his student years. Throughout the series, human figures appear marked by invisible wounds, while even nude forms are depicted as fragile and vulnerable rather than idealized.

Another major section, The Letter that Never Arrived, combines personal references and everyday objects through the use of mixed materials. In Night in Brussels, created after the artist moved to Brussels in 1986, Psychopedis examines the relationship between private interior spaces and the cityscape beyond the window.

The 1999 cycle Report to Goya serves as a powerful anti-war statement linking historical trauma with contemporary violence.

Jannis Psychopedis, “The Encounter”, 1967. Oil on canvas, 60 × 80 cm

Jannis Psychopedis, “Broken Horizon” [part of a quadriptych], 1981. Coloured pencils on paper, 58.5 × 56 cm

One of the exhibition’s most prominent works, Oracle, stands out for its multilayered composition, bringing together themes from both ancient and modern civilization. References to classical antiquity also appear in works inspired by the devastating 2007 fires in Ancient Olympia, where Psychopedis reflects on the connection between the living present and the classical past.