In Munich, gallery Filser and Gräf employs an ancient maxim as a curatorial starting point in their latest exhibition: “Mēdèn ágan,” or “Nothing in excess.” The statement was carved on a column that once stood at the entrance of the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, a cogent reminder of the delicate balance of existence on both the micro and macroscopic levels. The titular phrase is exemplified by the work of the two featured artists, Paris Giachoustidis and Toshihiko Mitsuya, who each confront the idea of universal balance as well as the relationship between scale, material, and conceptions of humans’ place and importance within reality.

Installation view of “Paris Giachoustidis and Toshihiko Mitsuya: Medèn ágan – Nothing in Excess” (2026). Photo: Julia Smirnova. Courtesy of Filser and Gräf.

Based between Germany and Japan, Mitsuya’s carefully crafted sculptures are made from thin aluminum. Cut, folded, and arranged into complex arrangements that simultaneously evoke nature—like flowers, leaves, and vines, as well as some futuristic creation. Reflecting the surroundings and light, the viewer is reminded of their physical presence both in the gallery space itself, underscoring the unique relationship between viewer, object, and space. Produced in a manner akin to installation, they inherently challenge the space in which they are installed, at once conforming to it and drawing attention to the occupiable space.

Featuring a suite of recent paintings, Giachoustidis’s work opens the dialogue to other worlds entirely.

Paris Giachoustidis, Sternenwanderung II (2026). Courtesy of Filser and Gräf.

Originally from Greece, Giachoustidis’s images recall 1990s aesthetics and tap into the profusion of images—historic and contemporary, artistic and scientific—that imagine alternate futures and humanity’s role in them. Featuring otherworldly landscapes and motifs connected to space travel, the artist’s work broaches ideas associated with posthumanism and the Anthropocene.

Motifs linked to space exploration, like the abandoned glove in Optimistic Hand (2026), with a small, contextually incongruous flower in its palm, or the helmeted figure in Sternenwanderung II (2026), allude to future realities when the confines of Earth are no longer relevant, and the use of human scale—both physically and psychologically—depreciates.

Paris Giachoustidis, Optimistic hand (2026). Courtesy of Filser and Gräf.

Playful yet epic, Giachoustidis masters the balance between what is known and what is yet to be discovered, intrinsically highlighting the importance of acknowledging past, present, and future. And as the gallery notes, “In the interplay of Giachustidus’s cosmic uncertainty and Mitsuya’s material fragility, a reflection on the beauty of the transient, the limits of knowledge and power, and the ethical responsibility of humans in a fragile universe emerges.”

“Paris Giachoustidis and Toshihiko Mitsuya: Medèn ágan – Nothing in Excess” is on view at Filser and Gräf, Munich, through May 2, 2026.