Day and Night

Kostas Paniaras was born in 1934 in Kiato, Corinthia. He took his first painting lessons from Erricos Lekos and in 1955, after passing the entrance examinations to the School of Fine Arts, he attended the preliminary class with G. In the first year of his studies he attended the first class of the school with G. Moralis. The following year he moved to Paris, where he studied under André Lhote, enrolled in the Lithography Department at the École des Beaux-arts and at the same time studied fresco and mosaic art at Gino Severini's School. He stayed in Paris until 1975, and in between he made residencies in New York, Tehran, India, Nepal and other Far Eastern countries. His early works of the 1950s and early next are abstract compositions inspired by landscapes. Gradually, and while colour dominates almost all periods of his work, he introduces foreign materials into his works, which leads him to search for a third dimension and to create sculptures, structures and installations. After the mid-1990s, he returned to two dimensions and imaginary landscapes, which he had been working with early in his artistic career. His exhibition activity is rich - he was a partner of the Alexander Iolas Gallery in New York - and he presented his work in many solo and group exhibitions in Greece and abroad. He died in 2014 in Athens.