Image: Benaki Museum, Athens
The Benaki Museum in Athens is presenting “Alecos Levidis. Painting 1961–2026. A Lifelong Game”, a retrospective devoted to the life and work of the painter and academician Alecos Levidis. The exhibition runs at the museum’s Pireos 138 building from 8 October 2026 to 14 February 2027, following an opening on the evening of 7 October.
The show brings together more than 500 works made from the artist’s youth to the present day. Alongside color compositions and drawings, it includes painted mock-ups for book covers, artist’s notebooks, murals, installations and stage sets.
The exhibition has been curated jointly by Levidis himself and Marica Rombou-Levidi. Its title reflects the way the artist describes his own practice. According to the museum, Levidis traces his bond with painting back to early childhood, when he would spend hours drawing. For him, art has always been akin to children’s play: a process that demands absolute concentration, creative imagination and perseverance, but that also brings deep enjoyment.
The museum describes this creative introversion, which it links to a state of methexis, or participation, as something that remained unchanged in his mature years, when painting became his life’s calling. In presenting the results of what it calls a deeply serious, lifelong “play”, the exhibition sets out to share the pleasure that painting has given the artist throughout his career.
A monograph with the same title accompanies the exhibition. It is co-published by the Academy of Athens and Agra Publications and edited by the two curators.
The retrospective is presented with the financial support of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture. Admission is €9, with a reduced ticket at €7, and tickets can be bought in advance or at the museum on the day of the visit.
