Juergen Teller. you are invited
Onassis Ready, Athens
From October 19th until December 30th, 2025
Titled you are invited, the exhibition offers an immersive journey into Teller’s distinctive visual language—one defined by a dynamic interplay of public and private, irony and pain, introspection and provocation. Housed in a former factory in the industrial neighbourhood of Agios Ioannis Rentis, Onassis Ready emerges as a new hub for contemporary creativity. Curated by Juergen Teller and Dovile Drizyte, and set within a space designed by architect Tom Emerson and 6a Architects, the exhibition is a co-production between Onassis Culture and the Juergen Teller Studio. The venue itself is conceived as a creative workshop for international artists and collectives—an open platform for experimental voices and bold artistic visions. Choosing Teller to inaugurate this space is anything but accidental. The German-British photographer, known for his raw and at times unsettling aesthetic, presents here one of his most expansive retrospectives, blending iconic works with previously unseen material.
opening image: Leg, snails and peaches No.43, London, 2017.
You are invited unfolds as a multi-decade voyage through personal memories and collective tensions, featuring photographs and videos stretching from the 1990s to the present day. What makes this exhibition particularly compelling is its deeper, more introspective lens—shaped by recent life experiences that mark a new phase in Teller’s evolution. Among them, a moment destined to become iconic: his portraits of Pope Francis, taken at the Giudecca women’s correctional facility during the 2024 Venice Biennale. Teller’s most recent work also carries a potent autobiographical charge. In collaboration with his wife, Dovile Drizyte, he has delved into themes of fatherhood, partnership, and transformation—all while maintaining the deliberately disarming tone that defines his visual approach. This exhibition reveals a more self-aware Teller—one who translates his personal journey into broader reflections on love, trust, spirituality, environmental crisis, and religion. The result is a powerful interplay of contrasting tones: tenderness and sarcasm, vulnerability and social critique.
“This is where it begins. We’re opening the doors of our new venue with an exhibition by Juergen Teller—an artist who reshapes the standards, that pulses with life—where the political clashes with the intimate, where raw, unfiltered emotion meets the quiet strength and weakness of family. Set on the edge of the city, Onassis Ready, is set to be a meeting place where stories simmer, boundaries blur and unexpected encounters emerge. Juergen Teller’s show will be more than an exhibition. It’s an invitation: to feel, to question, to belong.”
