Kostas Paniaras
Day and Night, Then Day Again
March 13, 2025–April 12, 2025
The Breeder, Athens
The Breeder presents “Day and Night, Then Day Again”, an exhibition dedicated to the acclaimed Greek artist Kostas Paniaras (1934–2014). Over a career spanning fifty-five years, Paniaras developed an impressive and multifaceted body of work, consistently challenging the boundaries of artistic mediums.
This exhibition brings renewed attention to a pivotal moment in his practice, showcasing a selection from his iconic “Day and Night” series, created in the 1980s. First presented at Galerie Samy Kinge in Paris (1982) and the Iolas-Jackson Gallery in New York (1983), these works exemplify Paniaras’ long-standing collaboration with visionary gallerist and collector Alexander Iolas. Defying traditional painting methods, Paniaras worked with industrial materials, using vinyl sheets that he carefully pleated to create dynamic tensions. His approach was both radical and poetic, embodying a minimalist sensibility that emphasized the possibilities of abstraction.
The “Day and Night” series unfolds like a chromatic journey, where colors evolve gradually—from dark to light, warm to cool—often punctuated by shimmering gold and silver elements. This interplay of hues mirrors the passing of time, evoking the eternal rhythm of day fading into night. Through his meticulous process, Paniaras transformed his personal observations of light, landscape, and the metamorphosis of nature into an evocative visual language.
Returning to these historical works nearly forty years after their creation, “Day and Night, Then Day Again” reintroduces their enduring relevance. Paniaras envisioned art as an open-ended dialogue, stating, “I use my art to predict new images… Once a work of art leaves the hands of its creator, it begins an independent journey, shaped each time by the need and aesthetic perspective of the one who sees and experiences it.”
This exhibition highlights the timeless force of his vision—balancing sensitivity and tension, abstraction and mythology—while celebrating his legacy as a Greek artist of significant international presence. More than a physical journey, his work invites an emotional and existential exploration of time, memory, and transformation. Through the show, The Breeder reaffirms the gallery’s commitment to showcasing pivotal artistic voices and historical narratives within contemporary discourse.
Kostas Paniaras (Kiato, Corinthia, 1934 – Athens, 2014) studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts under Yiannis Moralis. In 1956, he moved to Paris, where he studied lithography at the École des Beaux-Arts, painting with André Lhote, and mosaic and fresco with Gino Severini. That same year, he began his exhibition career, presenting his first solo exhibition in Athens, followed by numerous solo and group exhibitions in Greece and abroad. In 1961, he held his first solo exhibition in New York at the Alexander Iolas Gallery, marking the beginning of a 25-year collaboration with Alexander Iolas. He also participated in the Paris Biennale (1961) and the Tokyo Biennale (1964), as well as in the Art in America exhibitions (1962, 1966). Retrospective exhibitions of his work were held at the Pierides Art Gallery (1984) and the Benaki Museum (2007).
Paniaras experimented with a wide range of media and techniques, following the international trends of his time. In his paintings, color is the dominant element, contributing to the creation of compositions with large surfaces, while the use of pleated plastic breaks the traditional flatness, adding a textured and undulating quality. With the same approach, he employed color in his sculptures and installations, intervening in the forms of well-known classical works, offering a different interpretation of them.
Philippe Malouin and Sofia Stevi
In Dialogue
March 13, 2025–April 12, 2025
The Breeder Feeder, Athens
The exhibition brings together new works by British-Canadian designer Philippe Malouin and Greek artist Sofia Stevi, exploring the contrast between structure and fluidity, control and spontaneity. Through their practices, they highlight the tension between hardness and softness—both in material and meaning.
Philippe Malouin’s practice exists at the intersection of craftsmanship, sculpture, and industrial design. He presents a new series of ceramics produced during his 2024 residency at La Becque in Switzerland. The ceramic pieces function as studies in gravity: Malouin experimented with shaving clay using various tools, allowing the fragments to fall into predetermined forms, guided by the forces of gravity. This process, driven by a fascination with random orientation and chaos theory, resulted in sharp, angular compositions rendered in bold colors—an exploration of order emerging from chance. The exhibition also includes a selection of Steel Works—primarily furniture crafted from scrap metal—which serve as display structures for the ceramics. Created in Athens in 2021 exclusively for The Breeder, the Steel Works have since been featured in leading design and architectural magazines, including AD Italia, Wallpaper, and PIN-UP.
Sofia Stevi introduces a new body of paintings that act as portals between reality and dreamscapes. In her fluid, warm-toned compositions, bodies, flowers, and animals merge with clouds, vapors, and streams, creating a visual language of memory and imagination. Patterns and objects drawn from personal recollections coexist with everyday life, while feminine figures—both whole and fragmented—embody shifting states of being. Through these enigmatic, fragmented narratives, Stevi constructs sensual, dreamlike worlds that begin as deeply personal reflections yet resonate universally, evoking shared emotions and desires.
British-Canadian Philippe Malouin holds a Bachelor’s degree in Design from the Design Academy Eindhoven. He has also studied at the École Nationale Supérieure de Création Industrielle in Paris and University of Montreal. He set up his studio in 2008 after working for English designer Tom Dixon. Malouin has also taught at the Royal College of Art in London between 2012-2015. His diverse portfolio includes tables, rugs, chairs, lights, art objects and installations. Malouin’s client list includes: FLOS, Vaarnii, De Sede, Iittala, Nike, Please Wait to be Seated, SCP, Marsotto Edizioni, Resident, OTHR, HEM, Ace Hotel, Matter-Made, Established & Sons, Roll & Hill, 1882 ltd., Kvadrat, Umbra Shift, IZÉAesop. Malouin is represented by Salon 94 Design in New York City and The Breeder in Athens. He has recently won the Wallpaper* Magazine ‘designer of the year’ award. He has also been named President of the Jury at Villa Noaille’s Design Parade in France. Philippe Malouin solo exhibition “Steel Works” was hosted at The Breeder in November 2021 and was awarded with material innovation by Wallpaper Awards.
Sofia Stevi (b. 1982, Athens) lives and works in Athens. She has presented her work in exhibitions and projects at Onassis Stegi and Museum of Cycladic Art, Greece; ΒALTIC – Center of Contemporary Art and Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, United Kingdom; Le Quai Contemporary Art Institute, Monaco; Galeria Pelaires, Spain; ALMA ZEVI Gallery, Italy, and in group shows in museums, galleries and project spaces internationally. Stevi has had two solo shows at The Breeder: “When we start to understand the world” (2023) and “Lizzie & Laura” (2017). She has been awarded the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Artist Fellowship by ARTWORKS (2022). In 2013 together with the artist Bobby Dowler she found Fokidos Art Space that occupied her Athens apartment where they exhibited Greek and international artists as well as held performances and poetry nights. In 2010 she started Friary Road House poetry press to give a platform to unpublished poets. She is represented by The Breeder, Athens.
