The work of Angelo Plessas, “The Talisman of All Beings,” an in-situ neon installation, is moved to Patision Avenue, opposite the Athens University of Economics and Business. From December 25, students, passersby, and residents will have a talisman watching over them from above, endowing their gaze with color and positive energy for their days and nights.

A new neighborhood is prepared to welcome the healing properties of the colorful, luminous installation of Angelo Plessas. “The Talisman of All Beings” moves from Alexandras Avenue to 95 Patision Avenue, opposite the Athens University of Economics and Business, to continue “protecting” the city, its passersby, and residents. On December 25, new sets of eyes will encounter the red smiley face (emoji) that is surrounded by seven symbols arranged in a circle, transmitting a message of love, hope, and optimism as an antidote to a fragmented world where disaffection, alienation, loneliness, and loss prevail.
Every year, through commissions and on-site artistic interventions in the public space of the center of Athens, the Onassis Stegi seeks places where art merges with the everyday. Through a series of works on apartment building walls, great works of contemporary Greek visual artists are recreated on a large scale. The first murals, which have already become a part of the Athenian urban fabric, are “The Kiss” by Ilias Papailiakis at Avdi Square in Metaxourgio, “Wave” by Sofia Stevi at Mavili Square, and “She Who Protects” by Aristeidis Lappas at Omonia Square.

According to Angelo Plessas: “’The Talisman of All Beings’ is a neon work and the outcome of research I conducted on symbols inspired by the Ancient Greek, Mesopotamian, Lapponian, and Buddhist iconographies, while the internet culture has appropriated some of these symbols.”

Credits
Angelo Plessas, artist
Curated by: George Bekirakis, Afroditi Panagiotakou
Οnassis Foundation Project Manager: Maria Vassariotou
Line Production – Realization: UrbanAct

Onassis Culture
Director of Culture: Afroditi Panagiotakou
Deputy Director of Culture: Dimitris Theodoropoulos
Commisioned &  Produced by: Onassis Foundation

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