OPENING
SATURDAY 29.03.25
| 11 am – 3 pm

DUO EXHIBITION
31.03. – 10.05.25
Monday – Saturday
| 10 am – 2 pm

a66Gallery is pleased to present the duo exhibition Moonage Daydream, featuring works by Paris Giachoustidis and Philip Grözinger, accompanied with a text by Domenico de Chirico.

The exhibition title, Moonage Daydream, is borrowed from the eponymous song by David Bowie, included in the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972). The exhibition presents itself as a liberated, imaginative, and dance-like conglomerate of theatrical spontaneity, creative autonomy, eclecticism, subjectivity, and dreamscapes—a continuous oscillation between reality and imagination, the Apollonian and the Dionysian.

More precisely, the word moonage could allude to a “lunar era,” while daydream refers to a waking dream, an illusion, or a fantasy. In this way, the tangible realm of the moon and that of a purely imaginary reality intertwine inseparably, generating a unique stage. The result is an homage to the moon itself—here understood in the manner of American writer Walt Whitman, who, in his poetry collection Leaves of Grass (1855), describes it as a comforting, friendly element, a symbol of a return to the simplicity and purity of childhood. Yet a quiet melancholy remains, whispering:

“And the moon comes up with a smile on her face / And the smile of the moon is so sweet / That I forget that my soul is full of a yearning, / That I forget that I am no longer a child, / And that my dreams of youth have gone away.”

This journey into the unconscious, through the paintings of Paris Giachoustidis and Philip Grözinger, guides us into visual and conceptual territories where dream and reality overlap. The exhibition invites viewers to immerse themselves in a fluid universe full of possibilities—a world that is simultaneously dreamlike and cosmic, where the rigid laws of physics, perspective, and logic dissolve, making way for an intense and transformative sensory experience, at times excessive, at others childlike.

On one hand, the paintings of Paris Giachoustidis (born in 1990 in Serres, Greece, lives and works in Berlin) materialize semiotics, technological culture, and historical testimony, presenting themselves as ever-changing mental landscapes. Here, human figures and natural elements merge in a harmony of ambiguity and transformation. His painting reflects an inner world poised between aspiration and reality—a realm where perception and imagination are free to contract and expand without limitation. The use of vibrant colors, dynamic compositions, and alluring scenarios consciously opposes the rigidity of conventional habits and the pantomime of supposed capitalist freedom, powerfully exploring alienation from existence. The result is a cohesive sensation, an uninterrupted flow where change becomes a constant—an eternal becoming that is visible in every moment.

On the other hand, Philip Grözinger (born in 1972 in Braunschweig, Germany, lives and works in Berlin) offers an equally enigmatic and intriguing vision, where the figurative blends with surrealism, and the everyday landscape is subtly distorted, questioning perception. Through auroral brushstrokes, his works invite reflection on the impossibility of grasping reality in a definitive manner, celebrating the fluidity of forms, the mutability of images, and their meanings. Between form and sentiment, solitude and noise, vibrant colors and an unsettling aura, Grözinger’s imaginary world comes to life. He consciously employs oil, acrylic, pastels, and spray paint, creating an aesthetic that simultaneously draws from surrealism, expressionism, and romanticism. His works go beyond surface appearance, exploring the fragility of the human condition and the evocative potential of light and shadow play, transforming the ordinary into poetic and deeply relevant metaphors. In this new series of paintings, the artist, embracing even the notion of vanitas, focuses on floral and landscape themes, nurturing a profound interest in these elements as they symbolize transience and ephemerality.

Moonage Daydream thus becomes a field of exploration for the multiple dimensions of human experience. Despite their distinct painterly languages, both artists invite us on an intellectual journey where every element can transform, be reinterpreted, and reconsidered. Their works are not mere pictorial representations but true gateways to alternative worlds, where the visible merges with the invisible, and viewers are called to actively participate, guided by curiosity about the unknown.

This exhibition does not merely showcase images but creates an immersive experience—a true daydream that invites us to reflect on our relationship with reality, its nuances, and its transformations. Here, the boundary between the possible and the impossible becomes increasingly fluid, and imagination emerges as the key to new and surprising horizons.

Despite the explosion of vivid colors that capture attention and instill an innate sense of vitality, Moonage Daydream ultimately serves as an invitation to look beyond the discernible and surrender to a sensory experience that transcends the self-satisfied here and now.

With a restless rhythm of fragility and a longing for love, aware of the fleeting nature of life, beauty, and time, all these flowers, slowly closing, can finally allow themselves to be kissed with intensity by the lofty, enigmatic, and silvery moon.

by Domenico de Chirico

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