City of Athens presents through OPANDA, from 29 May to 7 September 2025 at the Gallery, the exhibition “Insouciance Stories”, curated by Kostas Nikakis and Stacey Ventura.

It is a group exhibition with works from the permanent collections of the Gallery, paintings, engravings, sculptures, as well as rare photographic material from its photographic archive and sketch collection. Also, for the first time, selected works from the Vlassis Frissiras donation are presented to the public.

The participation of young artists from the School of Fine Arts in the exhibition serves as a subtle but essential reminder of the dialogue, in a real and symbolic meeting between generations, leaving room for exchange and reflection.

The exhibition invites the visitor to an artistic summer in the heart of the city, presenting a compact narrative of six themes:
“The Age of Innocence” with works that make reference to childhood carefree, not only as an age phase or emotional state; but as an attitude to life. “Enjoying the insouciance” as adults who often forget joy “without purpose” and get lost in the density of “shoulds”.

“The Echoes of Summer” with the warmth of the sun, the dull silence of midday and the constant promise of water, becomes the ideal setting for Insouciance. Lushness spreads like a veil over everyday life, slowing down time and inviting us into a more direct relationship with our bodies, nature and ourselves.

“The Silence of the Moment” as a deeply existential attitude, a calm acceptance of the world, without the need for control or explanation, haste and hasty answers.

In “The Serenity of the Horizon”, insouciance is not only a feeling, but also an attitude towards the landscape, a relationship where freedom goes beyond the simple representation of nature, of the clear, open, uninterrupted horizon. In the last section

“Nuggets of Carefree” with contemporary visual practices, carefree does not appear as a simple escape from reality or as lightness. Instead, it functions as an existential and poetic counterweight to the imperatives of control, productivity and over-analysis.

The participating artists give interesting, often unexpected answers to the question of what is carefree, pointing out the multifaceted meaning of carefree.