Antonis Kyriakoulis

Antonis Kyriakoulis was born in Athens in 1938. He began his general education at the Anargyrios and Korgialenios School of Spetses. From 1960 to 1964, he studied graphic arts at the Doxiadis School, under the engraver A. Tassos. In 1964-65 and from 1966 until April 1967, he completed his studies at the London College of Printing in London. After returning to Greece, he professionally oriented himself towards painting. In 1971, he held his first solo exhibition at the Fondazione Europa in Milan, for which the magazine Mondo Giovine dedicated a special issue. During the 1970s and 1980s, his works were published in magazines such as Zygos, Tachydromos, Chroniko by A. Baharian, Rodi, Vavel, and in publications like "Tourism in Greece" (1971), "Boundary 2. A Journal of Post Modern Literature," State University of New York (1973, which included a special multi-page article), Open Theatre "Monthly Review of Political Theatre" (1973 by G. Michailidis), M. Harlow, "Events. Greece 1967-1974," Athens (1974), "Greek Prose," Athens (1976). From 1972, he systematically engaged in set and costume design. He has created sets and costumes for works from the classical repertoire, Cretan and Renaissance theatre, as well as many revues. He collaborated with all state theatres and the National Opera, where he served as a board member from 1983 to 1985, as well as with independent theatre troupes. In cinema, he collaborated on the films "Lords" by Manousos Manousakis (set design award, Thessaloniki Festival, 1977) and "Sweet Country" by Michael Cacoyannis in 1984. He has held 38 exhibitions and released series of functional art objects. In 2000, he created a monumental 16-meter mural for the restaurant-café of the renovated Benaki Museum. His writing career began with tragicomic librettos from well-known operas, such as "La Dame aux Camélias," "Othello," "Romeo and Juliet," which he wrote in London for his friends, as well as the "nonsensical" Limericks. His first professional texts were based on titles chosen by Manos Hadjidakis: "The Four Voices," "Les Lettres Amoureux," "The Megaphones," "The Trout and the Gardener," "Hermaphrodite or Paola," which were presented in 1981 on the Third Programme and narrated by himself. At the same time, he wrote two radio series for the Third Programme: "Little Nikitas Conte Kiki Diaboli Goes to Meet Catherine the Great," in 16 episodes read by Lefteris Voyatzis with an improvisational prologue added to each episode, as well as the series "Othon and Amalia," also narrated by Lefteris Voyatzis. In 1982, he wrote two texts for Manos Hadjidakis's "Pornography" titled "The Lecture of Memories" and "The 9 Muses" (the music of the latter is included in the album "Pornography" under the title "Eric Satie Paints the 9 Muses"). He also wrote a thriller for Channel 15 by Roussos Koundouros. In 1986, "Unbalanced Stories" were published in the magazine Tachydromos, accompanied by relevant illustrations, with titles such as: "The Reconstruction of Josephine," "Litsa Konstantinidi Barbarossa," "A Hot Tear Rolled Down," "Within the Basket and Amidst the Sea," "Historical Cities Alexis/Alexandria-Swallows/Sarajevo," "The Secret World of Cockroaches," "The Noses of the Medicis." Satirical, illustrated texts of his were also published in Eleftherotypia under the title "Timeless Stories of Madness." At the same time, he created a comic series for Figaro magazine featuring the protagonist "Mrs. Sourlinga, descendant of Mme Sousou," and recently designed various illustrations for Athens Voice and Lifo. In 1995, he wrote a monologue titled "The Two Little Hunchbacks," which was performed at the M. Rialdi theater. In 1993, the album "Antonis Kyriakoulis. Drawings and Texts" (Irina Editions) was published. In 2001, the book "Oh, This Europe, What a Lady" was published by Ikaros, featuring his short texts and unique cooking recipes. His text titled "Parallel Lives" is included in the publication "For the Sake of Children" (Ikaros, 2001).