Surroundings
Apr 3rd – Sep 28th, 2025
Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, Kallithea
Curated by Katerina Stathopoulou

Claudia Wieser’s outdoor sculptural constructions create an immersive environment for exploration. In Surroundings, featuring works created specifically to be displayed on the Esplanade of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, Wieser’s Modernist-inspired geometric sculptures examine the intersection of art and the object – the aesthetic and the functional.

The exhibition Surroundings centers on a meticulously crafted free-standing stage adorned with more than 1800 clay tiles that were attentively hand-painted by the artist in her Berlin studio. Wieser, who trained as a painter, leaves traces of her brushstrokes in each vibrantly-colored tile. The sculpture serves both as a performance stage and a public space for assembly, prompting visitors to become consciously aware of their surroundings. It is an invitation to slow down the pace and be present in the moment. The geometric structure is embedded with built-in seating meant to encourage interaction and the exchange of ideas, drawing upon the rich history of art and design —from the democratic spaces of ancient Roman forums and ancient Greek theaters to the architectural principles of Bauhaus craftsmanship.

Sprinkled throughout the Esplanade are large-scale vertical metal structures that form an atmospheric immersive constellation amongst the trees. Each of the brilliantly-colored surfaces tells a different story through fragmented imagery: photographs of bodies taken by Wieser herself, reproductions of ancient sculptures, landscapes, painterly and geometric forms, entwined with actual hand-painted tiles. Seamlessly woven together, these assemblages capture the pulse and dynamism of human existence.