Alekos Fassianos

Alekos Fassianos (, 13 December 1935 – 16 January 2022) was a renowned Greek painter. He gained recognition for his distinctive style, which was characterized by immediacy and a deliberate departure from standardized painting techniques.

Life and career The son of a musician and a philologist, and the grandson of a priest, Fassianos was born in Athens. During the Axis Occupation, he lived for a short time in a village in Nafpaktia to ensure his survival. After the war, he lived for a short time in Livadeia, where his mother was a teacher. During his school years in Athens, he met Lefteris Papadopoulos, Theodoros Angelopoulos, and Christos Giannaras.

He studied violin at the Athens Conservatory and later painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts from 1956 to 1960 in the studio of Yannis Moralis, while also taking classes with Yannis Tsarouchis, an artist who had a decisive influence on the artist's work. During his studies, he participated in his first exhibitions, collaborated with Tsarouchis, Minos Argyrakis, and architect Aris Konstantinidis, and expanded his circle of acquaintances to include Odysseas Elytis, Takis Sinopoulos, Andreas Embeirikos, Kostas Tachtsis, Eleni Vakalo, and other prominent figures of the time. Fassianos' first solo exhibition took place at the A23 Gallery in Athens. In 1966, he held his first exhibition in Paris. Its success led to the artist's long-standing presence in the French art scene, which lasted for five decades. During the military dictatorship in Greece, he lived in self-imposed exile in Paris.

During his tenure in France, Fassianos collaborated in numerous ways with the writers Jean-Marie Drot, Pierre Seghers and Bernard Gheerbrant, the photographer and art gallerist Paul Facchetti, and with the Fata Morgana publishing house, following a referral by Louis Aragon.

In the 1970s, he participated in the Venice and São Paulo Biennales, expanding his collaborations and exhibiting in New York City, Milan, Geneva, Tokyo, and elsewhere. Over the next decade, he participated in major exhibitions such as the 1984 FIAC and the Baden-Baden Graphic Design Biennale (1985), while retrospective exhibitions dedicated to his work began to be organized.

Fasianos continued his artistic output in the years that followed, receiving numerous awards and participating in retrospective exhibitions.

Work Since 1959, the year of his first solo exhibition in Athens, he has held more than seventy individual exhibitions both in Greece and abroad. He has repeatedly participated in collective exhibitions and renowned international events around the world. Fassianos was also active in printmaking, poster and jewelry design, as well as architecture, furniture design, and ceramics.

He also served as a set designer and costume designer for productions at the National Theater of Greece (Kafka’s America, 1975; Euripides’ Helen, 1976; Aristophanes’ The Birds, 1978, among others), the National Theater of Northern Greece, the Greek National Opera, and others. He worked with directors including Karolos Koun, Alexis Solomos, and Giorgos Messalas.

Honours 1985: Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (France) 2009: Honorary Member of the Russian Academy of Fine Arts (Russia) 2010: Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters (France) 2013: Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honour (France) 2020: Commander of the Order Arts and Letters (France)

Collection and exhibition history Public and private collections France

National Centre for Visual Arts (CNAP) Paris Museum of Modern Art (MAM Paris) Mobilier National Museum, Paris Maeght Foundation, Saint Paul de Vence Villa Tamaris Art Center, La Seyne Sur Mer Paul Valéry Museum, Sète Center of engraving and printed image, La Louvière Museum of Grenoble, Grenoble

Greece and Cyprus

National Art Gallery – Alexandros Soutzos Museum, Athens Benaki Museum, Athens Cycladic Art Museum, Athens Frissiras Museum, Athens Theocharakis Foundation, Athens American College of Greece (ACG Art), Athens Hellenic Olympic Committee, Athens European Culture Centre of Delphi, Delphi Museum of the Olive and Greek Olive Oil, Sparta Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art (MMCA), Thessaloniki Averoff Museum, Metsovo Museum of Contemporary Art Andros, Andros Municipality of Rhodes Modern Greek Art Museum, Rhodes Nikos Kazantzakis Museum, Crete Historical Archive – Museum of Hydra (I.A.M.Y), Hydra Nicosia Municipal Art Center (NiMAC), Nicosia, Cyprus Pierides Museum, Nicosia, Cyprus

Worldwide

Hellenic Foundation for Culture, New-York, Usa Hellenic Foundation for Culture, London, United-Kingdom Creator Vesevo, Ercolano, Italy Osten Museum of Drawing, Skopje, North Macedonia Museum of history and religion, Saint-Petersburg, Russia

Solo shows 1970s 1978 Galerie Origrafica, Malmö, Sweden

1980s 1987 Galerie Origrafica, Malmö, Sweden

1990s 1991 Galerie Zoumboulakis, Athens, Greece 1991 Galerie La Hune – Brenner, Paris, France 1992 SAGA, Grand Palais, Galerie La Hunne – Brenner, Paris, France 1992 Galerie Grafika Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan 1992 Galerie Zoumboulakis, Athens, Greece 1992 Galerie Origrafica, Malmö, Sweden 1993 Galerie Beaubourg, Paris, France 1993 Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art (MMCA), Retrospective, Thessaloniki, Greece 1993 Galerie La Hune – Brenner, Paris, France 1994 Galerie Origrafica, Malmö, Sweden 1995 Galerie La Hune – Brenner, Paris, France 1996 Galerie Pudelco, Bonn, Germany 1996 Kunstkabinett Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany 1996 Jaski Art Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands 1997 Paul Valery Museum & Nikos Kazantakis Museum (Twinning), Sète, France 1997 Galerie Grafika Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan 1998 European Culture Center of Delphi, Retrospective, Delphi, Greece 1998 Galerie Rachlin-Lemarié, Angels and Loves, Paris, France 1999 Paul Valery Museum, Sète, France 1999 NIKAF art fair, Galerie Futura, Tokyo, Japan

2000s 2000 Art Miami, Galerie Futura, Miami, Usa 2000 Galerie La Hune – Brenner, Paris, France 2000 Galerie Rachlin-Lemarié, Daily Mythology, Paris, France 2000 Villa Kerylos, Daily Mythology, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, France 2000 Galerie Bixio 2, Milan, Italy 2001 Hellenic Foundation for Culture, New York, Usa 2001 Château de Chenonceau, Le Mythe à bicyclette, Chenonceau, France 2002 Museum of Cycladic Art, The winners, Athens, Greece 2003 Hellenic Foundation for Culture, London, United-Kingdom 2003 Galerie Zannettacci, Geneva, Switzerland 2003 Galerie La Hune – Brenner, Les Travaux Des Dieux, Paris, France 2003 Galerie Grafika Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan 2004 Benaki Museum, Travaux, mythes, Eros, Athens, Greece 2004 National Art Gallery, A. Soutzos Museum, Everyday Mythologies, Athens, Greece 2004 Galerie Grafika Tokyo, Istanbul, Turkey 2005 Galerie Zannettacci, Geneva, Switzerland 2007 Galerie Potnia Thiron, L'éternel Retour, Athens, Greece 2007 Galerie Schneider, Munich, Germany 2008 Galerie Di Meo, Eroticon, Paris, France 2008 Central House of Artists, Moscow, Russia 2008 Galerie Potnia Thiron, Tout ce qu'il nous reste, Athens, Greece 2009 Galerie Helenbeck, Soft Mythology, Nice, France 2009 Galerie Zannettacci, Geneva, Switzerland 2009 Municipality of Rhodes Modern Greek Art Museum, Fassianos – 45 Years Of Creation, Rhodes, Greece

2010s 2010 Galerie Grafika Tokyo, The Aegean Breeze, Paris, France 2010 Galerie Thierry Salvador, Memories, Brussels, Belgium 2011 Opera Gallery, Fassianos, London, United Kingdom 2011 Villa Tamaris Art center, Memories, La Seyne-sur-Mer, France 2011 Galerie Herrmann, Fassianos, Berlin, Germany 2011 Pavlos Kountouriotis Mansion, Fassianos: Giorgos Economopoulos Collection, Istanbul, Turkey 2011 Hellenic Museum, Fassianos, Ancient myth – Modern situations , Melbourne, Australia 2012 Galerie Di Meo, Fassianos, The light rediscovered, Paris, France 2012 Galerie Estades, Fassianos, Lyon, France 2012 Abbaye-école de Sorèze, Alecos Fassianos et sa muse Gudrun Von Leitner, Sorèze, France 2012 Grosvenor Gallery, Everyday myths, London, United Kingdom 2014 Galerie Zannettacci, Fassianos, Geneva, Switzerland 2014 Galerie Française – Gérard Schneider, Fassianos, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France 2015 Kapopoulos Fine Arts, Alekos Fassianos, Mykonos, Greece 2016 Museum of History and religion, Ancient Greek Myths in everyday life, Saint-Petersburg, Russia 2016 Kapopoulos Fine Arts, Apocalypse, Patmos, Greece 2016 Galerie Pierre-Alain Challier, Fassianos – joie de vivre, Paris, France 2017 Kapopoulos Fine Arts, Alekos Fassianos, Paris, France 2018 Iris Gallery, Small works, Athens, Greece 2018 Historical Archive – Museum of Hydra (I.A.M.Y), Fassianos in France, Hydra, Greece 2019 Galerie Estades, Alecos Fassianos, Paris, France

Group exhibitions 1963 Pantechnicon, San Francisco 1965 SWEA, Stockholm 1968 Biennale of Menton 1982 Palais des Congrès : Europalia with Caras, Christoforou, Gaïtis & Alkis Pierrakos, Brussels, Belgium 2000 Kunstkabinett Regensburg, Contemporary Drawings and Sculptures, Regensburg, Germany 2009 Opera Gallery, Fassianos – Timur D'Vatz, Dubai, United Arab Emirates 2011 Galerie Pascal Polar, The Figurative Art of Greek Artists, Brussels, Belgium 2012 Musée du verre et de ses métiers, Daum – Art, luxury & crystal, Dordives, France 2012 Opera Gallery, A Century of Nudes, Geneva, Switzerland 2013 Villa Tamaris Art Center, Retrospective, La Seyne-sur-Mer, France 2014 Galerie Morfi, Group exhibition of Cypriot and Greek artists, Limassol, Cyprus 2015 Galerie David Hicks, Fassianos – Oppenheim, Paris, France 2016 Opera Gallery, Shades of blue, Monaco, France 2016 Ikastikos Kiklos Sianti Gallery, Small Paintings, Athens, Greece 2016 Manege Central Exhibition Hall, Genii Loci – Greek Art From 1930 To The Present, Saint-Petersburg, Russia 2017 Manoir du Boulanc, Greeks !, Verderonne, France 2017 Kapopoulos Fine Arts, Segui – Fassianos, Mykonos, Greece 2017 Ikastikos Kiklos Sianti Gallery, Small Paintings, Athens, Greece 2018 Paul Valéry Museum, Painting and Poetry, Sète, France 2018 Moca Skopje, The Greek Collection, Skopje, North Macedonia 2018 Maeght Foundation, The Spirit of a Collection : Gifts, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France 2019 Roma Gallery, Alekos Fassianos – Dimitris Mytaras, Athens, Greece 2019 Ikastikos Kiklos Sianti Gallery, A Beach in the City, Athens, Greece 2019 Theocharakis Foundation, Alekos Fassianos, Vangelis Chronis – 30 Years of Friendship, Paintings and poetry, Athens, Greece 2020 Galerie Élysée Saint-Honoré, Yves Navarre meets Alekos Fassianos, Paris, France