ONX Relay

ONX Relay is a new commissioning and distribution initiative that supports artists creating technology-driven artworks while building pathways for them to reach new audiences around the world. Designed to bridge the gap between artistic experimentation and institutional presentation, ONX Relay combines funding with access to production resources, technical expertise, curatorial guidance, and strategic introductions to presenting institutions, helping artists realize ambitious new projects whose complexity often places them beyond the reach of traditional commissioning models.

Over the course of a year, this select cohort of artists—Trevor Paglen, Maya Man, and Ben Frost—will be supported through our Onassis ONX studios and by our staff in both New York and Athens. Rather than treating production and presentation as separate stages, ONX Relay will emphasize institutional circulation within the creative process from the outset, ensuring public audiences around the world can encounter works that help make visible the profound ways in which advanced technologies are reshaping society, culture, and everyday life.

"Behind every work of art is a process that cannot be rushed, artists need time, space, and support to experiment, take risks, and imagine what does not yet exist. Onassis ONX Relay is built around that belief. What ultimately reaches audiences is the imagination, care, and dreams that brought a work into being. Technology may be the material, but the story is always human.”

- Afroditi Panagiotakou, Artistic Director of the Onassis Foundation  

As artists increasingly work with artificial intelligence, immersive media, interactive game engines, spatial computing, and other emerging technologies, the production of ambitious contemporary artworks has become significantly more complex—often requiring specialized hardware, knowledge, facilities, and institutional partnerships beyond the reach of established commissioning models. ONX Relay responds to this evolving landscape by supporting projects for long-term circulation, ensuring that public audiences around the world can encounter works that help make visible the profound ways advanced technologies are reshaping society, culture, and everyday life.

By integrating commissioning with distribution from the earliest stages of development, ONX Relay expands the role of the cultural institution beyond that of a presenter or funder. The initiative situates Onassis ONX as an active partner in the creation, realization, and future life of new works, helping artists build projects that can evolve beyond a single exhibition into sustained institutional engagement.

For its inaugural cohort, ONX Relay has selected three internationally recognized artists working at the forefront of contemporary art and technology: Trevor Paglen, Maya Man, and Ben Frost. Together, their projects reflect the breadth of artistic practices the initiative seeks to advance—from artificial intelligence and computational neuroscience to generative video, immersive installation, spatial sound, and performance.