Onassis Stegi presents the new work by Angelo Plessas, “The Talisman of All Beings” on Alexandras Avenue

Placed on a building at Alexandras Avenue, opposite the General Anti-Cancer Hospital ‘Agios Savvas’, the installation by Plessas serves as a talisman for the city and its residents. It is comprised of a red smiley face (emoji), which is surrounded by seven symbols in a circular arrangement. These symbols, collected by the artist from various civilizations around the world, carry a message of love, hope, and optimism, as an antidote to a shattered world, ruled by disaffection, alienation, loneliness, and loss. Looking at the bright rays exuded from a green mushroom, a bluebird, a yellow yin yang eye, a double pink moon, an orange hand, a circular square (the Command key in the Apple keyboard) and a purple snake in a glass, the passers-by are filled with positive thoughts and feelings, relieved from everyday stress. The work bears an apotropaic character, recalling obliquely the amulets we encounter in the form of medallions or burial offerings, as well as pendants, the dyed threads worn by mystics during ancient rituals. At night, Plessas’ work amasses an even stronger impact: the sacramental atmosphere it creates, coupled with a pagan mood, reveals its ritualistic character and its healing properties.

Plessas notes on this work, which constitutes the third in a row edition of his Extropic Optimisms series: “’The Talisman of All Beings’ is a neon work and the outcome of a research I conducted on symbols inspired by the Ancient Greek, Mesopotamian, Lapponian, and Buddhistic iconographies, while some of these symbols have been appropriated by the internet culture. Due to its vantage point in the city, the work may remind us of a colorful ‘talisman’, while in parallel it will comprise the spontaneous unfolding of a story or the lifecycle of a being. The ‘pasted’ symbols on the wall (moons, eyes, hands, animals, etc.) are related to primordial concepts, such as healing, wisdom, body rejuvenation, as well as contemporary terms, such as connectivity, reconciliation, equity, and ecology. The installation is further based on a color system, which reflects the aforementioned traits; for example, the orange being the color for health. Even without knowing that the work is based on the idea of the talisman, I believe that the colorful rays of light and the slightly familiar symbols will subconsciously provide an instant positive aura to this rather emotionally charged area, which is surrounded by the General Anti-Cancer Hospital ‘Agios Savvas’, the Hellenic Police Attica Headquarters and the football stadium of Panathinaikos. I was thinking about the cancer patients, the football fans, the policemen and the detainees, as well as all kinds of Athenians, the refugees, the LGBTQ citizens, the animals, the plants, and everything that exists and surrounds us in this city, that everything changes and we are all fleeting and that no one is immortal or safe from harm. On the other side, if someone believes that a certain mental fortification, either a talisman or a therapy technique, may protect or even cure them, then there is a high chance of protecting themselves by means of their own capacity to self-protect.”