Yannis Koutsouradis

Yannis Koutsouradis was born and lived most of his youth not far from the rock of the in Athens Acropolis... Today he works and shares his time between Greece and the Netherlands.SCULPTURE AS AN AFFIRMATION OF OPTIMISMText from the Greek newspaper 'AXIA' written by A. CH. V.Yannis Koutsouradis is an artist of that generation which has indeed put forward praiseworthy and renowned sculptors, whom gave a fresh impulse to contemporary sculpture. Been himself also a student of the master sculptor Yannis Pappas, Koutsouradis worked initially in Greece and after a period of travels, he has settled in the Netherlands. Soon he became a pioneering creative artist in his field. However he often comes back to his homeland and presents his work. Been a sea child, in him palpitates the undulation of the maritime dream, the seashores of the native country, and his grip of the ancient values - been his conscience, are all fermented and transformed into his work and through his quest of the modern knowledge and research. The element of abstraction in the work of Koutsouradis is a reference to the values of light, while at the same time evokes exaltation - a burst of feelings of positiveness. His sculpture stand firmly on earth while at the same tim...

Yannis Koutsouradis has concluded his studies and research as a sculptor, at three well-known art academies in Europe. Initially at the in Athens Art Academy, (5 years), his tutor was one of today's pioneering figures, the sculptor Yannis Pappas. Koutsouradis, as an Athenian born, has also studied ancient art in several museums in Greece and abroad. In London, initially at Camberwell School of Art, and later at Central / Saint Martin's School, and in conjunction to the Royal College of Art, (2 years in total), he has been able to introduce afresh to the open-air sculpture the materials of colour vitreous / glass enamels fused on three-d. steel. In Amsterdam / Holland, (his second working place with Athens), Koutsouradis, been invited there by the visionary Rector of the Rietveld Art Academy - the late Rene v. d. Land, was able to create, in collaboration to the Dutch industry, (2 years), a series of large scale steel / enamelled works which render a fresh impulse to open-air sculpture and also with its relationship to the water land - scape of Holland. For that he had been twice awarded both by the English government (The British Council), and by the Greek, (I.K.Y.). Recently he has been awarded a Dutch state prise for his open-air...