Yannis Bouteas was born in 1941 in Kalamata. During the period 1959-1964, with a scholarship from the Greek state, he studied engraving at the A.S.K.T. under the tutelage of K. Grammatopoulos, and then with a scholarship from the I.K.Y. he continued his studies in Paris, at the École Superieure des Beaux-Arts (1966-1970). He returned to Greece, where he held his first solo exhibition in 1972 and then settled in Paris, where he remained for ten years (1972-1982). His artistic activity includes, for the most part, constructions and installations combining "poor" and technological materials, while the influences of his apprenticeship in printmaking are evident and resulted in his interest in structures based on parallel or intersecting lines. His compositions, which follow the context of the exhibition site and are placed either on the floor or on the walls, consist of white or coloured neon light bars, which coexist with various materials such as rope, string, metal surfaces, stones, pieces of asphalt, plasticine, mirrors, etc. He has held a series of solo exhibitions and participated in group exhibitions and international events in Greece and abroad. He participated in various Parisian Salons (des Comparaisons, 1974, Grands et Jeunes d' Aujourd' hui, 1974, 1975, de Mai, 1977), Avanguardia e Sperimentazione (Modena, Venice, 1978), etc., while he also represented Greece in the Sao Paulo Biennale (1981) and Venice Biennale (1990, participated with G. Lappas).