The exhibition maps out important milestones in Aperghis’ artistic research, from her early experiments in geometric abstraction, which characterize her “return” to painting, to the dynamic wall compositions in irregular formats, in which she abandons the convention of the canvas. All the works on display belong to the collection of the National Gallery –Alexandros Soutsos Museum (EPMAS), which acquired them through purchases —already from Aperghis’ first solo exhibition in 1979— through the Maria Dimitriadi Bequest, of whose gallery hosted four solo exhibitions of Aperghis, as well as following the recent donation by Georges Aperghis.
Before “returning” to painting in the mid-1970s, Irene Aperghis, following her studies at the Athens School of Fine Arts (1939–1948), worked for approximately twenty-five years as a freelance furniture designer and interior decorator. Presented in the exhibition for the first time, furniture designs and painted watercolors of interior layouts and furnishings from Aperghis’ archive reveal a largely neglected dimension of her professional practice. This archival material, which —like the Irene Aperghis’ archive in its entirety— survive thanks to the meticulous “archival care” of her friend, the visual artist Diohanti, illuminate in a unique way the social history of furniture and the transformations of the domestic interior in postwar Greece, shaped by rapid urbanization, intensive reconstruction, and processes of “modernization.”
In 2019, the archive of Irene Aperghis, along with that of her husband, the sculptor Achilleas Aperghis (1909–1986), was donated to the Contemporary Greek Art Institute.
Artistic Direction: Syrago Tsiara, Director of the National Gallery
Head of ISET (National Gallery Annex): Natasa Tsaropoulou
Exhibition curator: Eugenia Alexaki, Art Historian
Exhibition architectural design: Eirini – Daphne Sapka
Exhibition coordination: Eirini – Daphne Sapka, Natasa Tsaropoulou
Opening: Thursday, February 19, 2026, at 7:00 PM
Duration: until May 15, 2026
ISET – Institute of Contemporary Greek Art, 9A Valaoritou, Athens
Exhibition opening hours: Monday – Friday, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
