DESTE Foundation For Contemporary Art
activities 1983 – 2009 www.deste.gr
The DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art
The DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art is a non-profit institution based in Athens, Greece. The Foundation was established in Geneva in 1983 by collector Dakis Joannou, together with curators Adelina von Fürstenberg and Efi Strousa. Ever since, DESTE has been organizing exhibitions and has been supporting projects and publications internationally.
Through an exhibition program that promotes emerging as well as established artists, the DESTE Foundation aims to broaden the audience for contemporary art, to enhance opportunities for young artists and to explore the connections between contemporary art and culture. The flexibility of DESTE’s exhibition schedule enables the Foundation to respond to what is current in the art world and to embark on interesting projects on short notice. DESTE’s program also extends to curatorial projects and special events that explore the connections between art and fashion, music, film, architecture, design, and contemporary culture.
From its inception until 1998, DESTE organized and supported shows in Greece, Cyprus and Switzerland. These shows include Cultural Geometry (1988), Psychological Abstraction (1989), Artificial Nature (1990), Post Human (1992-1993), and Everything That’s Interesting is New (1996), a series of exhibitions that drew on the holdings of the Dakis Joannou Collection. In 1998 the DESTE Foundation moved to its first permanent space in Neo Psychico, Athens, where an ambitious exhibition program developed, including Global Vision (1999), Jeff Koons’ A Millennium Celebration (1999-2000) and Tim Noble and Sue Webster’s Masters of the Universe (2000). As part of the Athens 2004 Cultural Program, the DESTE Foundation mounted Monument to Now, the Foundation’s most ambitious project to date, a group show with more than 60 participating artists, curated by Dan Cameron, Jeffrey Deitch, Allison Gingeras, Massimiliano Gioni and Nancy Spector.
Since January 2006, DESTE has been housed in a renovated former sock factory in Nea Ionia, Athens. The exhibition program of the new space was inaugurated by Panic Room (2006-2007), a group show with works on paper from The Dakis Joannou Collection, and by the Yellow Room Projects Anathena (2006- 2007) and Part Time Punks (2007), both of which were selected through an open call. Recent DESTE shows include Fractured Figure (2007–2008) and A GUEST + A HOST = A GHOST (2009).
Apart from the shows that draw on works from the Dakis Joannou Collection, the DESTE Foundation also initiates a number of ongoing projects: the DESTE Prize, awarded biannually to an emerging Greek artist, the Hydra Slaughterhouse Project and the destefashioncollection.
To further support its mission, DESTE has also established the Contemporary Greek Artists’ Archive, a helpful resource for curators and researchers, as well as a specialized art library which is open to the public.
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The Dakis Joannou Collection
Since 1985 Dakis Joannou has systematically been collecting works of contemporary art, working closely with artists and curators. Focusing on contemporary art from the 80’s to the present, the Collection is constantly enriched with works by emerging artists. The Collection contains major concentrations of works by some of the most distinguished and influential artists of the late 20th and the beginning of the 21st century, such as Pawel Althamer, Maurizio Cattelan, Nathalie Djurberg, Urs Fischer, Robert Gober, Jeff Koons, Chris Ofili, Charles Ray, Kiki Smith, and Kara Walker, among many others.
The Collection’s status has never been static – it is in constant flux, crystallizing only in curated exhibitions. Over the years, the Collection has been shown in Athens, with the two most notable exhibitions being Everything That's Interesting Is New (1996) and Monument to Now (2004 - 2005). Curated Collection shows have also been presented in Thessaloniki, Nicosia, Paris and Vienna.
“Collecting is, for me, an adventure, a set of different "lived" experiences, a constant flow of meeting, talking, listening, looking. It is an act of understanding and participating. And within this never ending involvement with "what is happening," the moments when I see exciting works for the first time constitute some of the highlights of my life.” Dakis Joannou
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exhibitions & projects 1983 – 2009
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EMERGING IMAGES The Work of Art today: A Work of the Matter and of the Times. 10 Greek Artists Today
April 14th – May 10th, 1983 Athens, Hotel Athenaeum Intercontinental
Curated by Efi Strousa Project Coordinator Nora Stamatiadou
Dimitris Alithinos, Diohandi, Yorgos Lazongas, Leda Papaconstantinou, Rena
Papaspyrou, Chryssa Romanos, Totsikas, Costas Varotsos, Zouboulis-Grekou
Performances by Costas Varotsos & Sylvia Machi, Leda Papaconstantinou, Zouboulis & Grekou
Catalogue Design: Makis Tsipouridis Edited by Efi Strousa Essay by Efi Strousa
7 GREEK ARTISTS A NEW JOURNEY
December 5th – 28th, 1983 Nicosia, The Gate of Fammagusta
Curated by Efi Strousa
Dimitris Alithinos, Costas Varotsos, Diohandi, Bia Davou, Leda Papaconstantinou, Rena Papaspyrou, Totsikas
Panel discussion with Alexandros Xydis, Efi Strousa and the participating artists
Catalogue Design: Leoni Vidali Edited by Efi Strousa Essay by Efi Strousa
JOSEPH KOSUTH RECENT WORKS 1981-1985
March 26th – April, 1985 Genève, Centre d’art contemporain, Ancien Palais des Expositions
Supported by the DESTE Foundation
Curated by Adelina von Fürstenberg
Exhibitions with works from the Dakis Joannou Collection are marked with red titles. 5
PROMENADES
June 9th – September 22nd, 1985 Parc Lullin, Genthod, Genève
Organized by the Centre d’art contemporain Supported by the DESTE Foundation
Curated by Adelina von Fürstenberg
Vito Acconci, Roger Ackling, John Armleder, Marco Bagnoli, Alighiero Boetti, Silvie & Chérif Defraoui, Braco Dimitrijevic, Luciano Fabro, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Rebecca Horn, Per Kirkeby, Joseph Kosuth, Jakob Mattner, Marisa Merz, Mario Merz, Matt Mullican, Max Neuhaus, Maria Nordman, Meret Oppenheim, Giulio Paolini, Giuseppe Penone, Carmen Perrin, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Anne & Patrick Poirier, Markus Raetz, Sarkis, Anne Sauser-Hall, Ettore Spalletti, Pat Steir, Jean Stern, Catherine Willis, Gilberto Zorio
Catalogue design Philippe Dumaret Catalogue essays by Bruno Corà, Adelina von Fürstenberg, Denys Zacharopoulos
COSTAS VAROTSOS THE POET
September 14th, 1985 Nicosia, Cyprus
Donation of the sculpture The Poet by Costas Varotsos to the Municipality of Nicosia by the DESTE Foundation
GILBERTO ZORIO
April 14th – May 24th, 1986 Genève, Centre d’art contemporain, Ancien Palais des Expositions
Supported by the DESTE Foundation
Curated by Adelina von Fürstenberg
Catalogue Design: Silvia Chessa, Beatrice Merz & Gilberto Zorio
Published by the Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart
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DIMITRI ALITHINOS SIXTH CONCEALMENT
1987 Great Wall of China
Project organized by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture
Supported by the DESTE Foundation
DER MOND, DIE SONNE MARINA ABRAMOVID & ULAY
April 11th – May 9th, 1987 Genève, Centre d’art contemporain, Ancien Palais des Expositions
Performance by Marina Abramovi and Ulay on April 10th, 1987 ć
CULTURAL GEOMETRY
January 18th – April 17th, 1988 Athens, House of Cyprus
Curated by Jeffrey Deitch Exhibition design by Dan Friedman Exhibition installation by Haim Steinbach
John M. Armleder, Richard Artschwager, Ashley Bickerton, Scott Burton, John Dogg, Nancy Dwyer, R.M.Fischer, Katarina Fritsch, Robert Gober, Dan Graham, Peter Halley, Jenny Holzer, Niek Kemps, Harold Klingelholler, Jeff Koons, Annette Lemieux, Sherrie Levine, Simon Linke, Allan McCollum, Gerhard Merz, Matt Mullican, Robert Smithson, Haim Steinbach, Rosemarie Trockel, Meyer Vaisman, Jan Vercruysse, Wallace & Donohue
Catalogue Design: Dan Friedman Essays by Jeffrey Deitch and Peter Halley
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SCULTURE DA CAMERA
October 4th-30th, 1988 Athens, House of Cyprus
Organised by Regione Puglia, Assessorato alla cultura
Curated by Marilena Bonomo, Valentina Bonomo & Silvana Paparella
Carl Andre, Giovanni Anselmo, John Armleder, Barbro Backstrom, Douglas Beer, Joseph Beuys, Mel Bochner, Alighiero Boetti, Jonathan Borofsky, Andre Cadere, Biagio Caldarelli, Bruno Ceccobelli, Stephen Cox, Gino de Dominicis, Cherif et Silvie Defraoui, Tullio de Gennaro, Nicola de Maria, Franco Dellerba, Diohandi, Jiri George Dokoupil, Piero Dorazio, Marcel Duchamp, Peter Fischli & David Weiss, Joel Fisher, Lucio Fontana, Richard Francisco, Rebecca Horn, Shirazeh Houshiary, Niek Kemps, Jannis Kounellis, Sol Lewitt, Paolo Lunanova, Ingeborg Luscher, Piero Manzoni, David McDermott & Peter McGough, Fausto Melotti, Mario Merz, Marisa Merz, Afranio Metelli, Matt Mullican, Richard Nonas, Nuncio, Luigi Ontani, Julian Opie, Meret Oppenheim, Nakis Panayotidis, Mimmo Paladino, Giulio Paolini, Pino Pascali, Vettor Pisani, Man Ray, Juliao Sarmento, Mario Schifano, Rob Scholte, George Segal, Joel Shapiro, Pat Steir, Ernesto Tatafiore, Jean Tinguely, David Tremlett, Richard Tuttle, Christos Tzivelos, Jean Luc Vilmouth
Catalogue edited by Valentina Bonomo and Attilio Maranzano
LA POSSIBILITE DE L’ART Où commence, où finit l’art dans le monde de l’art contemporain
February 25th – 26th, 1989 Genève, Salle des Abeilles, Palais de l’Athénée
Symposium organized by the Centre d’art contemporain, Genève
Supported by the DESTE Foundation
With the participation of: Lucio Amelio, Barry Barker, Michel Baudson, Saskia
Bos, Jacqueline Burckhardt, Daniel Buren, Bernard Burgi, Bart Cassiman, Cherif Defraoui, Chris Dercon, Michel Durand-Dessert, Wolfgang Max Faust, Thomas Kellein, Niek Kemps, Stuart Morgan, Gloria Moure, Gloria Picazo, Chantal Pontbriand, Jeff Rian, Valerie Smith, Pier Luigi Tazzi, Philippe Thomas, Denys Zacharopoulos
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TOPOS – TOMES
April 3rd – 27th, 1989 Athens, House of Cyprus
Curated by Haris Savvopoulos
Nicos Baikas, Yannis Fokas, Apostolos Georgiou, Stelios Koupegos, George Lappas, Eleni Nikodimou, Angelos Scourtis, Thanassis Totsikas, Nicos Tziotis, Christos Tzivelos, Costas Varotsos
Catalogue Design: Loukia Katzouraki
Essay by Haris Savvopoulos
PSYCHOLOGICAL ABSTRACTION Works from the Dakis Joannou Collection
July 18th – September 16th, 1989 Athens, House of Cyprus
Curated by Jeffrey Deitch
John Armleder, Nicos Baikas, Alan Belcher, Gretchen Bender, Mary Carlson, Grenville Davey, Marcel Duchamp, Nancy Dwyer, Fischli & Weiss, Gunther Forg, Robert Gober, Joe Goode, Thomas Grunfeld, Peter Halley, Christina Iglesias, Harold Klingelholler, Jeff Koons, George Lappas, Annette Lemieux, Man Ray, Piero Manzoni, Juan Munoz, Rob Scholte, Thomas Schutte, Mark Stahl, Philip Taafee, Kathleen Thomas, Ti Shan Hsu, Rosemarie Trockel, Meyer Vaisman, Jan Vercruysse, Wallace & Donahue
Catalogue Design: Theodoros Anagnostopoulos and Thimios Presvitis Essay by Jeffrey Deitch
PANOS KOULERMOS
February 10th – March 10th, 1990 Athens, House of Cyprus
Curated by Takis Koumbis, Yorgos Simeoforidis, Yorgos Tzirtzilakis
Catalogue Design: Giorgos Simeoforidis Essays by Takis Koumbis, Christos Papoulias, Yorgos Simeoforidis, Yorgos Tzirtzilakis, Nikos Kalogeras, Francesco Dal Co, Kenneth Frampton, John Hejduk and Panos Koulermos
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ELIMINATING THE ATLANTIC Works from the Dakis Joannou Collection
May 12th - June 16th, 1990 Thessaloniki, Harbour Storehouse A
Curated by Haris Savvopoulos
Laurie Anderson, John Armleder, Ashley Bickerton, Panayotis Cacoyannis, Nancy Dwyer, R.M. Fischer, Fischli & Weiss, Robert Gober, Fariba Hajamadi, Jenny Holzer, Christina Iglesias, Niek Kemps, Harold Klingelholler, Jeff Koons,
Barbara Kruger, George Lappas, Annette Lemieux, Juan Munoz, Peter Nagy, Thomas Schutte, Haim Steinbach
Essay by Haris Savvopoulos
ARTIFICIAL NATURE
June 20th - September 15th, 1990 Athens, House of Cyprus
Curated by Jeffrey Deitch
Ashley Bickerton, Clegg & Guttmann, Walter de Maria, Laura Grisi, Martin Kippenberger, Jeff Koons, Liz Larner, Tatsuo Miyajima, Peter Nagy, Pino Pascali, Manuel Saiz, Robert Smithson, William Stone, Thanassis Totsikas, Meg Webster, Andy Warhol
Catalogue Design: Dan Friedman
Edited by Jeffrey Deitch and Dan Friedman Essay by Jeffrey Deitch
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