Juergen Teller: You are Invited
The exhibition "you are invited" – the inaugural exhibition of the Onassis Foundation’s new Onassis Ready space in Athens – marks a significant moment in Juergen Teller’s artistic oeuvre, which has been shaped by landmark events and encounters.
This mid-career survey presents various series, individual works, numerous videos, and combines Teller’s selections from previous exhibitions and portfolios, with new, unpublished images, from the 1990s to today, including iconic images (such as his portraits of Iggy Pop, Kate Moss and Charlotte Rampling), still-lifes and family portraits. This forthcoming solo exhibition encourages retrospection between past and present work, celebrating Teller’s re-energized perspective to form an active dialogue that acknowledges the shifting modes of exploration in his creative journey.
While Teller has always made personal work, this exhibition shows a new sense of purpose triggered by recent projects, such as photographing Pope Francis in a women’s prison during the 2024 Venice Biennale and his invitation to photograph Auschwitz for the 80th anniversary of its liberation earlier this year. In addition to such public commissions, in the past eight years, Teller has collaborated with his wife, Dovile Drizyte, on projects that reflect various aspects of their relationship and the birth of their daughter. These works are defined by a typical mixture of serious, intimate, yet often humorous characters created in the style of the grotesque.
Recommended for you
The exhibition "you are invited" – the inaugural exhibition of the Onassis Foundation’s new Onassis Ready space in Athens – marks a significant moment in Juergen Teller’s artistic oeuvre, which has been shaped by landmark events and encounters.
This mid-career survey presents various series, individual works, numerous videos, and combines Teller’s selections from previous exhibitions and portfolios, with new, unpublished images, from the 1990s to today, including iconic images (such as his portraits of Iggy Pop, Kate Moss and Charlotte Rampling), still-lifes and family portraits. This forthcoming solo exhibition encourages retrospection between past and present work, celebrating Teller’s re-energized perspective to form an active dialogue that acknowledges the shifting modes of exploration in his creative journey.
While Teller has always made personal work, this exhibition shows a new sense of purpose triggered by recent projects, such as photographing Pope Francis in a women’s prison during the 2024 Venice Biennale and his invitation to photograph Auschwitz for the 80th anniversary of its liberation earlier this year. In addition to such public commissions, in the past eight years, Teller has collaborated with his wife, Dovile Drizyte, on projects that reflect various aspects of their relationship and the birth of their daughter. These works are defined by a typical mixture of serious, intimate, yet often humorous characters created in the style of the grotesque.
Artists on show
Related articles
Juergen Teller inaugurates Onassis Ready with a landmark exhibition, marking his largest solo show in Greece to date.
Victoria Beckham, the Pope, and nudes in the sand feature among the German photographer’s images in ‘you are invited’ at Onassis Ready, the latest arts space from the Onassis Foundation.