The book Giannis Psychopaidis, Poetics. Painting Meets Poetry (a co-publication of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center and the Educational Foundation of the National Bank) was released on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name at the EBE building at the SNFCC.

The deeper relationship of Giannis Psychopaidis with poetry is long, systematic, continuous, and tested over the years, and constitutes a fundamental part of the broader context of his creative work. The Poetics represent a visual dialogue of the artist with the Odyssey of Homer, Parmenides, Herondas, Calvos, Byron, Palamas, Kavafis, Kariotakis, Lorca, Seferis, Elytis, Ritsos, Empirikos, Sathouris, Dimoula, extending to Kontos, Fostieris, Vlavians, Kyparissis, Metaxas, and Siotis.

The publication showcases works of mixed techniques and various materials, as well as a large series of drawings, watercolors, and oils featuring portraits of the poets with whom the artist converses.

Giannis Psychopaidis was born in Athens in 1945. From 1963 to 1968, he studied engraving at the Athens School of Fine Arts and then painting, on a scholarship from the German government, at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich (1970-1976). He was a member of the artistic group “A” in the 1960s and a member of the visual arts group of the magazine Art Review. He was a founding member of the group “New Greek Realists” (1971-1973) and of the Center for Visual Arts (Athens 1974-1976).

From 1977 to 1986, he lived and worked in Berlin. From 1986 to 1992, he lived and worked in Brussels. In 1994, he was elected professor at the Athens School of Fine Arts, where he taught until 2012. In 2013, he was elected emeritus professor. Since 1966, he has held numerous solo exhibitions in Greece and abroad. He has participated in many important group exhibitions in galleries, art institutions, and museums in Greece and other countries such as France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Ireland, Albania, Japan, Belgium, Algeria, Cyprus, Sweden, Israel, Iran, Turkey, England, Canada, Romania, Egypt, Poland, the Netherlands, Italy, America, and China.