Kopsidis Rallis

He studied painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts (1949-1953) in the Andreas Georgiadis workshop, but abandoned his studies in the fourth year. He then trained under Fotis Kontoglou whom he worked with decorating churches.

He has presented his work in solo, Panhellenies and group exhibitions in Greece and abroad, while in 1989 a retrospective was presented at the National Gallery.
In addition to painting, he has been involved with engraving, as well as the decoration of churches in Greece and abroad with wall paintings, such as the monastery of Chevetrogne in Belgium and the church of the Orthodox Center of the Patriarchate in Chambesy, Geneva, in which he has combined the elements of tradition with a personal attitude toward the religious painting of Orthodox churches. An artist with broad intellectual interests, he has also been involved with the writing and illustration of books and has published many texts in magazines as well as in the booklets for his solo exhibitions, while during the period 1972-1974 he published the magazine “Κάνιστρο”.

An anthropocentric painter, he has focused his interest on landscape, but one in which the human figure is dominant. His works, which combine a realistic and anti-realistic style with elements taken from both Byzantine and folk tradition, frequently move on a surrealistic level as well and reflect his experiences filtered through a nostalgic cast of mind.