Deste Foundation for Contemporary Art

The sorry saga of Athens’ efforts to establish a Museum of Modern Art has been going on for decades. Until the Ministry of Culture gets its act together, you’ll have to schlep out to the suburb of Nea Ionia. This unlikely suburban location is where Greece’s biggest art collector, Dakis Joannou, has set up shop in a former sock factory. The entrance is designed as a giant wooden crate, an ironic reference to the containers used to transport art. Crossing the threshold into a glass case, you’ll feel like an object on display. Joannou’s extraordinary collection features A-listers of the global art world: including Maurizio Cattelan, Olafur Eliasson, Matthew Barney, Juergen Teller, and Jeff Koons. Joannou also champions emerging Greek artists through the foundation’s annual art prize.