Xenakis Constantinos

He first studied drawing in Cairo. In 1955 he settled in Paris where he studied architecture and interior decoration at the Ecole Sup²rierure d’ Art Moderne (1955-1957) and painting at the Grande Chaumiere and Notre Dame des Champs Academies (1957-1963). In 1970 on a D.A.A.D. scholarship he went to Berlin where he taught at Schiller College from 1971 to 1973. From 1973 to 1982 he also taught at the Ecole Normale Superieure de l’ Enseignement Technique in France. The French state has awarded him the title Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres and the Delmas Prize of the Institut de France.

He started to exhibit in 1958 and this now includes appearances in Parisian Salons and group exhibitons in Greece and abroad, among which are the Paris Biennale of 1963 and the Brussels Europalia of 1982. In 1967 he presented his first environment in Sweden and in 1996 retrospectives of his work were held in the Alexandria Museum of Fine Arts and the Hanager Arts Center in Cairo.

He started out following abstract expressionism and then moved on to photokinetic art, environments and happenings. His compositions are defined by his acquaintance with the Egyptian, Arabic and Greek world from which he has borrowed elements of writing and symbols, which he often combines with road signs, creating a personal and special art based on signs. His work also includes compositions combining painting and sculpture, as well as environments and groups which he has done with architects, writers and musicians.