Yannis Mihailidis
about
He was born in 1940 in Skiathos island, which is reflected a lot in his art. At first he moved with his family to Volos and in 1958 they settled in Athens.
He has presented his work in 40 personal exhibitions since 1961, his most recent one is titled “SIMULATIONS” and was held in the Evripides Art Gallery. His first exhibition was held in 1963 and in 1968 he participated in the exhibitions “Memories-Reconstructions-Searchings” and “Greece and the sea”.
By then he had already started to paint, looking for his personal idiom, with the memories of Skiathos as his main stimulus. His initial painting subjects, the familiar images of the sea and the shipyard, recur in later works, as direct or indirect references to the Aegean landscape. His first solo exhibition was held in Athens (Nees Morfes Gallery, 1968).
Paper, inks and temperas are his most preferred materials, used in a variety of ways. In his recent works, the materiality of the surface subsides, in order to give way to a fluid, free-style painting, which shapes the compositions alluding to the transparency of the liquid element.
He has worked as a graphic designer (1966-74) and has taught in private schools and art studios. He has presented his work in numerous solo exhibitions in Athens and other cities, and has participated in 6 Panhellenics and several other group exhibitions, mainly in Greece. In 1970 he won First Prize in the exhibition Young Artists of the Fine Arts Chamber of Greece (Arts and Culture Centre).
His work is included in collections owned by the Greek Ministry of Culture, the Greek National Gallery, the Greek Parliament, the Municipal Gallery of Volos, the Municipal Gallery of Larissa, the Municipal Gallery of Rhodes, the University of Volos, the National Bank of Greece, the National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation (in Athens and Thessaloniki), the Ionian Bank, the Alpha Bank, the J.F. Costopoulos Foundation, the Agricultural Bank of Greece, the General Bank, the Piraeus Bank, the Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation, the Teloglion Foundation of Art in Thessaloniki, the Pieridis Gallery, the Emfietzoglou Gallery, the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, as well as in private collections.
