Nassos Daphnis City Walls: From New York to Athens 1969-2023

The work of Greek-American artist Nassos Daphnis is being presented for the first time at the City of Athens Arts Centre. The exhibition features nine original works from his City Walls series, for which he produced large-scale paintings on the facades of buildings in New York. Daphnis was one of the founding members of avant-garde artistic group City Walls Inc. who took up the enlivenment of otherwise dreary and rundown NY sections by painting bright murals. These abstract, geometrical murals painted in primary colours, as well as in black and white, played a key part in the revival of many industrial neighbourhoods. His “Colour-Plane” theory was actually developed in Athens, during a visit in the ‘50s, when he was inspired by the Attican sun and its shadowplay on the city’s building facades. Seize the opportunity to explore the Modrian-like work of Daphnis (no longer to be found on New York buildings), at the lovely area of Eleftherias Park, home to the brand new Athens Book Space, and just a short walk from the bar-hopping turf of Mavili Square.