As the ferry from Athens approaches Hydra, it crosses the Saronic Gulf separating the island from the Peloponnese and cruises along the coast that leads into the port. Before entering the amphitheatre-shaped harbour, the view from the left side of the boat offers a glimpse of a monumental bronze sun, its rays spinning in the wind.

Apollo Wind Spinner, by the artist Jeff Koons, is positioned where one might expect a lighthouse. Placed there in 2022, as part of his site-specific installation in the island’s former slaughterhouse, it was gifted by Koons and collector Dakis Joannou to the island, and is now a permanent fixture. Though we are far from Apollo’s sacred island of Delos and its hedonistic neighbour Mykonos, Hydra’s sun is a monument to its habitues’ own special decadence of choice: contemporary art.

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