Nikos G. Xydakis

Nikos G. Xydakis was born in 1958 in Piraeus and hails from Mykonos. He completed his primary and secondary education in Piraeus and Ermoupoli, Syros. He studied graphic arts at the Athens University of Applied Sciences (1976-77) but did not graduate. He earned a degree from the School of Dentistry at the University of Athens (1984) and pursued postgraduate studies in art history at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Athens (1999-2004). He has been working as a journalist since 1987. Since 1992, he has focused on visual arts, conducting reports and critiques, mainly for the newspaper "Kathimerini" (since 1995). In 1999, he became the head of the cultural section of the Sunday edition, and from December 2003, he served as the editor-in-chief of "Kathimerini." He has collaborated with numerous magazines and newspapers as a writer, book and art critic, publishing consultant, editor-in-chief, and publisher. His writings and lectures have been published in books, conference proceedings, and exhibition catalogs. He is a member of AICA-Hellas (International Association of Art Critics - Greek Section) and served as the elected General Secretary of its Board from 2002 to 2005. He curated the exhibitions "All Fashioned: Painting in Greece, Today" (group exhibition) at the Visual Arts Center of Contemporary Art, Larissa, and the State Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, in May - June 2002, and "Reference to Gyzis" (group exhibition) at The House of Exhibitions, Tinos, in July - September 2004. He lives and works in Athens. In the January 2015 elections, he was elected with SYRIZA in Athens B and assumed his duties as Deputy Minister of Culture.