NEW YORK, NY.- An infestation of Stymphalian birds has descended on Manhattan—and New Yorkers, surprisingly, are amused. Although in the ancient world the birds were widely disliked for their toxic dung, metallic feathers (which they can shoot like arrows) and appetite for live human flesh, they are now being welcomed to roost at the Olympic Tower Atrium at 645 Fifth Avenue as part of the free, family-friendly exhibition The Greek Monsters. Created by the award-winning design group Beetroot and presented by the Onassis Cultural Center NY, the exhibition is on view beginning April 11 and closes July 31, 2014.

While the Center renovates its home in Olympic Tower, it has invited the design group from Thessaloniki, Greece, to adorn the construction wall in the Atrium and use the subsidiary spaces to install its Greek Monsters. The exhibition brings together whimsical and exuberant freestanding sculptures, bas-reliefs and paintings executed on the construction wall to bring to life the bizarre creatures that challenged heroes such as Odysseus, Theseus, Perseus and Jason in ancient myths, and that have roared, bellowed, screeched and rampaged through the human imagination ever since. Beginning Sunday, April 27, the Onassis Cultural Center NY will offer Sundays at Onassis, a free program that will introduce children and families to the monsters, and will also inaugurate a program of free guided tours for school groups, K-12.

The giant eye of a Cyclops will appear in the window on the 51st Street side of Olympic Tower, staring out at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Inside, playful sculptures of the Cyclops, the Minotaur, Cerberus and the Medusa will lurk and loom in the Atrium. Scylla and Charybdis, realized in bas-relief on the wall, will confront visitors with their terrifying dilemma; Proteus will take shape behind small pedestal sculptures that show some of his ever-changing forms; and a frieze painted directly onto the construction wall will depict a variety of other strange creatures from ancient myth. Children who feel brave will be able to play an interactive Greek Monsters game on the wall, using magnetic puzzle pieces. And everyone who is curious about these fantastic figures will be able to read explanatory texts and poems about their origins, their present-day symbolism.

According to Beetroot, “The monsters were created to personify the astonishing mystery of the natural world, as well as the everyday anxieties that continue to plague us today. In ancient times they were counterparts of the gods, heroes and mortals and bore the sins of the world. They are exhibited here as examples of the creativity of poets such as Homer and Hesiod; as evidence of the keen observations of the ancient Greeks of their surroundings and the cosmos; as symbols of ethics, social life and philosophy; and as imaginative treasures that have greatly inspired the world. But this exhibition goes further, presenting the Greek monsters, with their dual nature as perpetrators and victims, as symbols for today’s movement against racism and exclusion, and as essays in contemporary design practice.”

Beetroot Design Group, based in Thessaloniki, Greece, is an award-winning communication design office, which for eleven years has championed the human passion for growth. Beetroot’s creative mission is to discover, develop and utilize the true essence of a brand, product or service and then expand it to become recognized, appreciated and praised around the globe. Beetroot’s highly surprising and edgy work seeks, and reveals, the characteristics that render each work unique. Beetroot was awarded the coveted Red Dot Communication Design Award in 2011.

The Greek Monsters will be on view into summer 2014 while the gallery of the Onassis Cultural Center NY undergoes renovation and expansion. Programs and events of the Onassis Cultural Center NY are continuing at partner venues elsewhere in New York City throughout the year.