WHAT YOU WEAR IS WHAT YOU ARE

Curated by:
Maria Maragkou
Maria Panayides
Stavros Kavalaris

CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM OF CRETE
32 Mesologhiou str. - Rethymnon
Opening: Saturday, 17 May 2025, 7:30–10:00 p.m.

The Contemporary Art Museum of Crete in Rethymno presents the exhibition WHAT YOU WEAR IS WHAT YOU ARE, running from 17 May to 31 October 2025, featuring works by both Greek and international artists.

A key feature of the exhibition is a dedicated tribute to the late Sophia Kokosalaki, the internationally renowned fashion designer from Rethymno who honoured Greece with her work and legacy around the globe, and who sadly left us far too soon. The homage includes twenty-four of her creations, along with jewellery and drawings from her family’s collection. The accompanying text is written by fashion historian Méty Tsoukátou.

With WHAT YOU WEAR IS WHAT YOU ARE, curators Maria Maragkou, Maria Panayides and Stavros Kavalaris seek to highlight the reciprocal relationship between fashion and the challenges of our time, as these are expressed through, and influenced by, contemporary art and its forward-looking concerns.

Since antiquity, clothing has fulfilled not only the practical needs of human beings but also served to determine their status in society. Over time, it has become a key marker of personal and collective identity.

This exhibition explores how such identity-shaping elements are expressed in the realm of contemporary art.

Beyond its role in fulfilling basic needs for dress, footwear, and ornamentation, fashion has always served a deeper human desire: to stand out. This desire gave rise to diverse styles—and, ultimately, to what we call fashion. Fashion has become an inseparable part of daily life and social reality, shaping behaviours and defining social status.

The exhibition investigates the ongoing dialogue between fashion and contemporary art through the works of artists and designers—Greek and international—even when the garment itself is absent. It is an ongoing project that aims to demonstrate how identity, as expressed through dress, is continually being transformed into art.

“The artist, in deconstructing the language of style, may assume the role of poète maudit within contemporary bourgeois society, privileging innovation and the capacity to absorb transitions. With visual techniques as their tool to frame and explain their themes, artists place their conceptual quests within topics dear to both low and high art. Ultimately, in a post-Warholian twist, what is presented in the visual field is the artist’s own gaze on how things ought to be depicted.”
(Excerpt from the curatorial text).

The exhibition includes works by twenty-nine (29) artists and designers: Eleonora Antoniadou, Dimitris Antonitsis, Eugenia Apostolou, Vanessa Beecroft, BlindAdam, Adonis Volanakis, Hussein Chalayan, Dimitris Davis, Christos Delidimos, Stamatis Zannos, Bill Georgoussis, Rene Habermacher, Rebecca Horn, Travis Hutchison, Anestis Ioannou, Lefteris Kanakakis, Yael Kanarek, Kapurani Bros, Sophia Kokosalaki, Elli Komninou-Nenedaki, Sophia Kosmaoglou, Yannis Bournias, Aliki Palaska, Angelos Papadimitriou, Maria Papadimitriou, Christiana Soulou, Efi Spyrou, Versaweiss and Nikos Charalambidis.

The works come from the collections of the National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST), the Contemporary Art Museum of Crete (CCA), ATOPOS, art galleries, private collections, and the artists themselves.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a bilingual (Greek & English) full-colour catalogue, featuring photographs and details of the artworks along with short texts by the artists themselves.

The exhibition is held under the auspices and support of the Ministry of Tourism.

The exhibition is realized with the support of NEON Organization for Culture and Development.

CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM OF CRETE
Municipality of Rethymnon - Directorate of Culture
32 Mesologhiou str. - Rethymnon
T: +30 28310 52530
E-mail: info@cca.gr, http\\: www.cca.gr

You can find photographic material from the exhibition at the link provided