Vangelis Vlahos Explores Greek History Through Installations and Models
Vangelis Vlahos, a Greek artist, explores the intricate layers of Greece's political past through his detailed installations. Born during the Colonels' Regime (1967–1974), he started examining the post-dictatorship landscape in the early 2000s. His work includes architectural models, notably the 1:150 scale skyscrapers featured at Manifesta 5 in 2004, like the Athens Tower, which lists tenants from 1974 to 2004. His 2003 model also captures the 1996 rocket attack on the US embassy by 17 November. In the late 2000s, he shifted towards photographic collages, with Grey Zones (2009) being a highlight. His latest works, This event has now ended (LANA) (2023) and This event has now ended (Tsakalotos’s notes) (2016–17), are on display at the Benaki Museum, Athens, until May 26.
Key facts
- Vangelis Vlahos is a Greek artist born during the Regime of the Colonels (1967–1974).
- His work includes architectural models like those shown at Manifesta 5 in 2004, featuring skyscrapers built under dictatorships.
- Grey Zones (2009) was presented at the 2009 Istanbul Biennial, depicting Cold War-era vessels.
- IS THERE ANY OVERSIGHT ON OCALAN? (2009–11) tracks Abdullah Öcalan's route before his 1999 arrest.
- This event has now ended (LANA) (2023) focuses on the tanker Lana seized in Greece in 2022.
- Objects to relate to a trial (Mladic’s hat) (2015) relates to Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladić.
- This event has now ended (Tsakalotos’s notes) (2016–17) was shown at the 2023 Thessaloniki Photo Biennale.
- His work is on view at the Benaki Museum, Athens, through 26 May and at Tavros, Athens, from 10 October.
Entities
Artists
- Vangelis Vlahos
- Nikos Alexiou
- Ala Younis
- Sol LeWitt
- Walter Gropius
- Yanis Varoufakis
- Euclid Tsakalotos
- Jeroen Dijsselbloem
- Bill Clinton
- Constantine Mitsotakis
- Slobodan Milošević
- Ratko Mladić
- Muammar Gaddafi
- Andreas Papandreou
- François Mitterrand
- Abdullah Öcalan
- Theodoros Pangalos
- Savvas Kalenterides
- Alexandros Lykourezos
- Costas Simitis
Institutions
- Benaki Museum
- Tavros
- Manifesta 5
- Istanbul Biennial
- Thessaloniki Photo Biennale
- Magasin III
- Stockholm School of Economics
- Eurogroup
- European Union
- NATO
- US embassy
- Greek state
- Bosnian Parliament
- Kurdistan Workers’ Party
- 17 November
- Revolutionary Cells
- Associated Press
- Los Angeles Times
- The Guardian
- CIA
- Eleftheros Kosmos
- Elefsina Mon Amour
- European Capitals of Culture
Locations
- Athens
- Greece
- Stockholm
- Sweden
- Istanbul
- Turkey
- Eleusis
- Sarajevo
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Moscow
- Russia
- Rome
- Italy
- Damascus
- Syria
- Nairobi
- Kenya
- Paris
- France
- Bonn
- Germany
- Oslo
- Norway
- Bern
- Switzerland
- Rotterdam
- Netherlands
- Kiev
- Ukraine
- Belgrade
- Serbia
- Montenegro
- Yugoslavia
- Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
- Kosovo
- Chad
- Libya
- Arabian Gulf
- Aegean Sea
- Cyprus
- Syros
- Hong Kong
- Brussels
- Belgium
- Holland