Born in 1945 at Evros (Northern Greece), he lives and works in Athens.

After the Greek Civil War, his family moved to Budapest until the events of 1956 where they have settled in Sofia, Bulgaria. There, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in the Monumental Sculpture department, from 1967 to 1972. Even though he was given a highly academic education, he created the first abstract modern sculpture to be placed in one of Sofia’s central squares. He moved back to Greece in 1978, where he integrates the immaterialism and the light of the Attica sky in his works.

Several exhibitions and major prizes follow, in Greece, France, the Netherlands, USA. In 1981, he represented Greece at the Biennale of Budapest, where he won one of the 1st prizes. In 1988, he won the National Competition of the Greek Ministry of Culture and created in 2005 the Monument in memory of the 200 Patriots shot by the Nazis during WWII, considered still as the most important national monument of the 20th century.

Fanakidis' works are characterised by expressionistic intensity. The artist focuses on the evolution of the human being, where the body is represented naked from its religious and ideological "myths". His oversized "Feet" underline his desire to link the real field with the illusion. His "Giacometti Head" is a tribute to the Swiss sculptor, one of his artistic references. The period 2000-2010 opens another creative era, where the neon light which escapes from within his coal constructions develop another inner topography through the sharp darkness of a endless scene. The impact of his "Space landscapes" is a highly effective one, indeed…

His works are in important museums of Modern Art, major galleries, institutional & individual collections, throughout Europe & in the USA, as well as in public places in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, the Netherlands & USA.

 

«Fanakidis moulds his forms with expressionist strength reaching through the cracks of the material their corruptible nature. They face with perplexity their constriction from their technological environment [...] and their unrealised dreams [...] Fanakidis provides drama in his sculptural creations throughout his artistic path. The sculptor immediately focuses his interest in the unusual beauty of form and colour, in the narrative variations and in the expressive emotions through the distortions introduced in his work. Several of his creations tend to the sphere of hyperrealism in order to reach the indefinable and the elusive dream».

Takis Mavrotas, Director of Fine Arts Program

B & M Theocharakis Foundation for the Fine Arts and Music