Greek artist and architect Andreas Angelidakis has turned the Greek pavilion at the Venice Biennale into an immersive escape room, blending personal tragedy, political commentary, and pop culture references. The installation, titled Escape Room, features a light-up dancefloor, wilted classical columns, and a soundtrack of Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Relax.
Personal and Political Intersections
Angelidakis, 58, says the work is deeply personal, drawing on his mother's suicide and his own HIV diagnosis. 'I've made projects that appear funny to people, but they were about my mother's suicide,' he told the Guardian. The installation also references Picasso's Guernica, the migration crisis, and the rise of far-right politics.
A Pavilion with a Voice
The pavilion, designed by M Papandreou and inaugurated in 1934, is given a voice through the installation. 'If it could talk, this is what it would say,' Angelidakis explains. The building's history is entangled with fascism, as it opened when Greece sought ties with Italy and Germany. The artist critiques national pavilions, saying, 'I'm against national pavilions. That's why I'm turning it into an escape room.'
Digital and Queer Influences
Angelidakis's work is influenced by digital culture and queer aesthetics, including RuPaul's Drag Race. 'RuPaul is like Malcolm X for gay kids,' he says. The installation includes an LED screen referencing Plato's cave, a souvenir shop with LGBTQ+ activist Zak Kostopoulos T-shirts, and riot shields protecting neon eggs symbolizing fascism.
Personal Journey and Artistic Evolution
After his father's death, family bankruptcy, and his HIV diagnosis in 2010, Angelidakis shifted from architecture to art. 'Death, bankruptcy and HIV all in three months was too much,' he recalls. His mother's suicide two years later deepened his focus on personal themes. The Venice Biennale runs until 22 November.
