Rafael Jablonka hosted a discussion with Platon and Viennese gallery owner Peter Coeln - and the members and patrons of Kunst in Seefeld turned up in droves. In a relaxed atmosphere, the New York-based photo artist with Greek roots talked about how he found his visual language and achieved technical mastery. Above all, however, it was about his encounters with the famous and powerful of the world. 

As a photographer for TIME and The New Yorker, he has taken portraits of personalities from Barack Obama to Muammar al-Gaddafi, from Vladimir Putin to Silvio Berlusconi. He says of his role as a photographic artist: „My job is not to do advertising. My job is to create an authentic moment and hold up a mirror to society.“ This is another reason why his photographs - such as the World Press Photo award-winning portrait of Putin for TIME - have been used not only by the people portrayed, but also by dissidents such as Pussy Riot or the LGBTQ+ scene.

In addition to these iconic images of power, Platon also repeatedly photographs „ordinary“ people from the island of Paros, where he spent part of his childhood. With the clear black and white photographs that can be seen in the current exhibition at KiS, he also created a monument to a vanished world: the last grocer who brought his goods to the village on a donkey, the curious postwoman and an old olive tree are all part of these scenes with their white houses and faces full of character.

Numerous members and supporters of KiS - Kunst in Seefeld listened intently to Platon's explanations. During the one-and-a-half-hour panel discussion and the subsequent closing event, they learnt a lot about the pictures shown in the exhibition and the photographer's artistic intentions.

There was great interest and a large audience, with lively discussions and thought-provoking questions … Sherrie Levine’s works – from the grotesquely beautiful bronze figures to the monochrome pieces in the „After Yves Klein“ series – raise many questions. As Florian Waldvogel also noted in his introduction: „The artist provokes answers, but she does not provide them.“ Spotted at the opening: KiS founding members Renate Labak with her husband Alexander and entrepreneur Christian Jäger, Daniela Lanziner Mühlberger (Chair of Kunstraum Innsbruck) and Seefeld’s Deputy Mayor Toni Hiltpolt (photo), curator Karin Pernegger, architect Kathrin Aste, gallery owners Bernd and Sonja Kugler, pharmacist Kurt Grass (Seefeld) with his wife, and many more.

The concert by Valerie Fritz and Goran Stevanovich on 7 May 2025 was once again attended by numerous members of KiS - Kunst in Seedeld with an interest in music and art in the old fire station hall in Seefeld. The duo played contemporary works, for example by Polish composer Mikolay Majkusiak (The Best Composer of the Young Generation - Fryderyk Festival 2020), and compositions from the classical-romantic repertoire, for example by Robert Schumann.

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