Grandmother Africa

Michalis Arfaras was born in 1954 in Athens. He studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts in the workshop of G. Moralis (1972-1974) and then at the Staatlische Hochschule für bildende Künste in Braunschweig, Germany (1975-1983), where he studied printmaking, graphic arts and animation cinema. In 1980 and 1988 he was awarded printmaking prizes. Since 1987 he has been a member of the German Filmmakers' Association, creating experimental films in his studio in Hannover, while the following year he started teaching at the Institut für Bildende Kunst und Kunstwissenschaft at the University of Hildesheim (1988-2006) and since 2006 he has been head of the 2nd Printmaking Workshop at the Athens School of Fine Arts (ASFA). His main work is expressed through printmaking and experimental video. In these he combines artistic modes and techniques, while he expresses his strong interest in history, archaeology and ethnology, ancient myths and cultic beliefs through small installations as well. He generally recreates an atmosphere that draws particularly from the realm of myth. In many constructions, he incorporates together with technological products, useless materials of everyday life and composes paradoxical assemblages that activate the imagination and reconcile the dramatic and the satirical. Alongside his visual, film and teaching work, he is involved in illustrating and editing art books. In 2009, his book Engraving and Printed Art (Metaixmio Publications) was published, a rich textbook that was missing from the Greek bibliography. After two solo exhibitions in Germany (1978, 1979), he had his first solo exhibition in Greece (1980, Zygos), since then he has regularly exhibited his work in Greece and abroad, in solo and group exhibitions. He also participates in experimental film festivals and international printmaking biennials. He lives and works in Athens.