A Modern Art Juxtaposition: Dio Horia In Athens

The capital of an ancient civilisation, Athens also has a burgeoning contemporary art scene. Sitting snugly up to the Acropolis, gallery Dio Horia reflects modern art from a city littered with antiquity ruins.

Beginning life as a small salon in Mykonos, Dio Horia was founded as an art platform in 2018 by curator Marina Vranopoulou who rallied against Mykonos’ commercialisation, inviting artists to portray their artistic impressions and inspirations. 

With a purposeful look towards unknown artists, Dio Horia’s objective was two-fold – to give a voice to emerging artists from peripheral countries historically connected to Greece, Greek history and culture and to also show their work to an international audience through art fairs and cultural residencies. 

In 2022, Dio Horia opened as a permanent space in Athens in a 4th century villa with characteristics pertaining to Late Antiquity. The clash and contrast of modern art against an ancient Greek backdrop complete with a mosaic at the entranceway, serves as a constant reminder of old and new, past and present, rooted yet unpredictable.

Serbian-born artist Maja Djordjevic was one of the first artists that Dio Hora representedculminating with a solo exhibition called Theatre of Memories in the Athens gallery. Focusing on digitally created art layered with oil paint, Djordjevic is inspired from a childhood playing 90s computer games and makes use of the female form to challenge notions about fragility one pixel at a time.

Colourful, painterly, exotic and the mystical donate the work of Hulda Guzman, another of Dio Hora’s first finds. Born in the Dominican Republic, Guzman’s work is filled with a sensory approach to architecture and tropical landscapes – her solo exhibition at Dio Hora called ‘With The Mother’ addressed the theme of magical realism in nature.

Today the gallery has a trope of almost twenty artists who contribute to group gallery shows and exhibit at design fairs around the world from the Venice Biennale to far-flung fairs in Shanghai and Tokyo.  

Sitting in the heart of Greek antiquity, close to the Acropolis Museum, hallowed chamber of Grecian art, contemporary gallery Dio Hora challenges conventional art by supporting and showcasing a wide realm of modern artists. A doorway to another world on your way to the Parthenon.