Directions

Konstantinos Xenakis was born in 1931 in Cairo, Egypt. He studied design in Cairo and continued in Paris where he studied interior design, architecture and painting (1956 – 1961) at the École Supérieure des Arts Modernes and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. He was granted a scholarship by the German Academic Exchange Service (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst  – DAAD) and moved to Berlin, where he worked and taught at the Schiller College until 1973.

His multifaceted, pioneering and bold work comprises painting, sculpture, engraving and environments. He has presented his work in solo and group exhibitions and international events, including the Salon de Mai in Paris (1968, 1969), the Salon de la Jeune Sculpture also in Paris (1968, 1969), the Paris Biennale (1963), the Europalia Brussels (1982), the major exhibitions in Athens (Reminiscences – Transformation – Quests which was held at the National Gallery – Alexandros Soutsos Museum in 1985, Metamorphoses of the Modern also at the National Gallery – Alexandros Soutsos Museum in 1992), ArtAthina in 1997, etc.

He has also worked with architects and musicians on the creation of large-scale environments. His paintings, murals, reliefs and ceramics are found in buildings and public spaces. In 1986 he was named Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, and in 1996 he was awarded the Prix Delmas by the Institut de France.