EUDAIMONIA. LIVING IN BLISS TODAY

Crux Galerie is happy to host the exhibition Eudaimonia. Living in Bliss Today, a visual exploration of the ancient idea of bliss through the eyes of the modern world. Painting, sculpture, and video converse in a dense narrative that draws on ancient pre- Socratic philosophy, shamanic wisdom, and the power of technology. Connecting art to mathematical perfection and global cultural heritage, Strauss proposes a radical rethinking of how we seek happiness today. From Cat-Notation, where ancient musical scales come to life through moving sculptures, to painted portraits of hybrid forms between animal and human, the exhibition invites visitors to self-discovery and spiritual awakening. With strong references to indigenous cultures, harmonizing with nature as a therapy, Strauss highlights the need for a meaningful “complete life” or “buen vivir”.

Eudaimonia. Living in Bliss Today is not just an exhibition; it is an experience that challenges us to think differently about ourselves and the world around us. An open invitation to a Jovial ReLOVEution, according to Strauss, and to rediscover the joy of “ well-being” through the eyes of an artist who knows how to combine the primordial with the utterly contemporary.

Sotirios Bahtsetzis

About the artist

Joulia Strauss is an artist, activist and multimedia sculptor. She was born in the Soviet Union as Mari, one of Europe’s last indigenous cultures with a shamanic tradition, and lives and works in Athens and Berlin. Her sculptures, paintings, performances, drawings and video works have been presented in solo and group exhibitions at the Pergamon Museum and Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin, at Tate Modern, as well as at the Tirana Biennale, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the Athens Biennale, the Kyiv Biennial, the ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe and documenta14, among others.

She is the editor of Krytyka Polityczna Athens and co-editor, together with Friedrich Kittler, Peter Berz, and Peter Weibel, of Götter und Schriften rund ums Mittelmeer (Wilehlm Fink, 2017). Strauss founded and organized Avtonomi Akadimia, a socio-cybernetic sculpture, film set, and activist education experiment in Athens. She recently finalized her film Transindigeneous Assembly.