Vlassis Caniaris (Athens, 1928 – 2011) was always a keen observer of his surroundings but also of the world at large. Thus his iconography has always focused on socio-political themes. He is one of the most significant artists of the post-war period in Greece and contributed to the emergence of a new artistic climate. From 1956 to 1960 he lived and studied in Rome and then settled in Paris until 1971. From 1973 to 1975 he lived in Berlin and then returned to Athens where he lived and worked until his death. He studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts (1950-1955),The School of Fine Arts, Rome (1959) and the University of Athens, School of Medicine (1946-1950). In 1976 he was elected to the chair in Architecture at the National Technical University in Athens and remained until 1996.
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With major international exhibitions, retrospectives as well as participations at the Greek Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (1964, 1988, 2003, 2012) and Documenta 6 (1977), Vlassis Caniaris is ranked as one of the pioneers of post-war art in Greece. He has had solo exhibitions at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (1970), Moderna Museet, Stockholm (1972), the ICA Institute of Contemporary Arts, London (1976) and Kunstverein Hannover (1976). Recent solo presentations of his work include: Vlassis Caniaris: Selected Works 1960s – 1980s, The Hellenic Centre, London (2023). ‘Vlassis Caniaris – Bound for Tinos III”, Cultural Foundation of Tinos, Greece (2016); ‘Vlassis Caniaris’, GAK – Gesellschaft für Aktuelle Kunst, Bremen, (2012). Since 2012 his works have been shown in numerous exhibitions in Greece and abroad such as: ‘Vlassis Caniaris (solo show), Hellenic Art Centre (2023), London; ‘There is no there there’, Frankfurt Museum for Modern Art (MKK) (2024); Urbanography (2023) and ‘Democracy’ (2024), National Gallery of Athens, Greece; ‘DIE VERHÄLTNISSE ZUM TANZEN BRINGEN – 50 Jahre Kemnade International’ Kunstmuseum Bochum, Germany; ‘Portals’, NEON, Old Tobacco Factory, Athens (2021); ‘Corpus Domini. Dal corpo glorioso alle rovine dell’anima’, Palazzo Reale, Milan (2021); ‘Body & Soul – Works from the Collection of Museum Ostwall at Dortmunder U, Germany (2020). DOCUMENTA 14 (2017); ‘Uncertain States. Artistic Strategies in States of Emergency’, Akademie der Künste, Berlin (2016). Solo presentation at Feature, Art Basel, Kalfayan Galleries (2017). ‘Atopolis’, Wiels Centre d’Art Contemporain, Brussels (2015), Gwangju Biennale (2014) et al. His work can be found in numerous private and public collections including Pinakothek Der Moderne (Munich), Museum am Ostwall Dortmund, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Kunstmuseum Bochum and Tate Moden (London).
