Renowned photographer Juergen Teller is opening a significant new chapter in his career with the launch of "You Are Invited," the inaugural exhibition at Onassis Ready, a newly transformed art space in Athens, Greece. The exhibition marks both Teller's most comprehensive solo presentation in Greece and the official opening of this ambitious cultural venue.
Onassis Ready occupies a former plastics factory in the industrial district of Agios Ioannis Rentis, Athens. The Onassis Foundation developed this impressive space, which spans over 3,700 square meters, with architectural design by 6a architects under the direction of Tom Emerson. The venue positions itself as a raw yet adaptable environment specifically designed for experimentation at the intersections of art, performance, and post-digital practice.
Teller's exhibition is scheduled to run from October 19th through December 30th, 2025, representing a significant milestone for the Onassis Foundation as it expands its cultural footprint from Athens to New York and explores new modes of artistic production.
The exhibition serves as a mid-career survey that explores interconnected personal and public narratives throughout Teller's work. "You Are Invited" brings together pieces spanning from the 1990s to the present day, featuring iconic images of celebrities including Iggy Pop, Kate Moss, and Charlotte Rampling. The comprehensive show also includes still life photographs, intimate family portraits, and lesser-known video works.
Particularly noteworthy are the new and previously unseen images that reflect recent shifts in Teller's artistic practice. Among these are his powerful photographs documenting Pope Francis's visit to a women's prison during the 2024 Venice Biennale, as well as his deeply intimate documentation of Auschwitz created for the 80th anniversary of the concentration camp's liberation. These projects, developed in collaboration with his partner Dovile Drizyte, demonstrate Teller's growing interest in subjects that simultaneously address political, spiritual, and deeply personal themes.
The venue itself has an interesting history within Athens's experimental arts scene. Before its official transformation, the former KOCH plastics plant hosted performances by prominent directors Vassilis Bisbikis and Nikos Karathanos. The space also served as a research location for "Xiromero/Dryland," the project that represented Greece at the 60th Venice Biennale. With its industrial shell preserved but reimagined for creative flexibility, the building has evolved into a dynamic site for rehearsals, installations, and performances.
The exhibition architecture was developed through collaborative dialogue between Teller's studio and Onassis Culture. This design approach embraces the unfinished materiality of the venue, allowing artworks to appear within an environment that feels authentically lived-in rather than artificially staged. Among the first works to activate the space were kinetic sculptures by Takis (Panayiotis Vassilakis), drawn from the Onassis Collection.
Afroditi Panagiotakou, Artistic Director of the Onassis Foundation, describes Teller's distinctive approach to image-making as one that often mixes "the grotesque with tenderness," creating spaces "where the political clashes with the intimate, where raw, unfiltered emotion meets the quiet strength and vulnerability of family." She notes that the works on display form "a constellation of lived experiences, moments of vulnerability and provocation that invite viewers into a space of friction and reflection."
Teller's recent artistic output demonstrates a notable turn toward embodied storytelling, with photographs exploring themes of fertility, fatherhood, and the everyday routines of domestic life. This shift makes visible his growing interest in more personal and intimate subject matter while maintaining his characteristic edge.
The decision to situate "You Are Invited" within Onassis Ready, a venue intentionally located outside central Athens, represents a deliberate statement by the Onassis Foundation about where and how art should circulate in contemporary society. This positioning expands traditional notions of accessibility and demonstrates the foundation's commitment to long-term artist support through its ONX program, which operates in both Athens and New York.
The exhibition represents a new era of art and experimentation in Athens, establishing Onassis Ready as a significant addition to the city's cultural infrastructure and positioning it as a space for innovative artistic practice that bridges local and international contemporary art scenes.
