Leading Greek artist Christos Karas died on April 16 in Athens at the age of 93 after a short hospitalization at the Georgios Gennimatas Hospital.

He was one of the brightest representatives of his generation. ‘60, a truly innovative visual artist, initially studied painting with Giannis Moralis and sculpture with Giannis Pappas, while receiving important awards for his work both in Greece and abroad.

In 2001 Karas was awarded by the Academy of Athens for all his work. Among his monumental works stands out the composition “Space Poetry” for the metro, at the station Chalandriou. He always sought to contact with the public in order to convey his creativity to people, he was motionless and creative until the last hour.

His latest exhibition, titled The Great Dreamer, curated by Manos Stefanidis and held at Sianti/Ikastikos Kyklos Gallery in October/November 2022, showcased work throughout his rich career, as well as some of the work he has created in recent years. . The artist himself attended the opening of his exhibition. Simultaneously with the exhibition, the Nikas publishing house published a book of the same name.

From the first collages he created, Christos Karas moved on to representational works of an expressionistic and surrealistic nature, in order to later create compositions in which elements of objective reality were conveyed with a poetic mood, while at the same time using the achievements of the previous stages of his work. work, while he emphasized the role of design. He stated, “Lately, it doesn’t matter who did it or didn’t do it. Who left the job is taken into account” (in the magazine Slovo, February 1982).

His civil funeral will take place at the First Cemetery on Wednesday at noon, followed by a ceremony and cremation at Ritson. Later, his ashes will be scattered in the sea of ​​the Hydra.

Summary

Christos Karas was born in Trikala, Thessaly on December 9, 1930.

After a short study at the Panteion University (1948-50), he entered the School of Fine Arts in Athens (1951), received a diploma (1955) and, on a scholarship from the State Scholarship Fund (1957), studied fresco painting at the School. Fine Arts in Paris for three years.

He lives in Paris until 1963. At the same time he travels to Belgium, Holland, Spain, Italy and England. Later he made many trips to Venice, Basel, Kassel, Brussels and Berlin, where he visited major international exhibitions.

In 1973 he went to New York on a scholarship from the Ford Foundation. He works there for two years and travels to Washington, Boston, Florida and Canada.

He returns to Greece and is actively involved in creating a contemporary artistic climate, appearing on television and giving many interviews in newspapers and magazines. Together with other artists, he also founded the “Tomi” group (1963) and the “Association of Greek Artists” (1976).

From 1955 to the present day he has held 76 solo exhibitions: in Michigan (1967), Nicosia (1969, 2000), Ghent (1978), Basel (1979), Paris (1982), Berlin (1985), Sweden (1987), Brussels (1987), Antwerp (1987), New York (1990), London (1999), Lausanne (2004), Athens and most major cities in Greece.

He also took part in many group events in major capitals of Europe, America and other countries.

In 1984 he represented Greece at the 41st Venice Biennale.