Kaloutsis Valerios

He studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts under Yiannis Moralis (1947-53). He continued his studies at the Saint Martin’s School of Art in London and the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. He presented his first solo exhibition in 1957 in Paris (Galerie 93), where he lived most of his life.
Since the beginning of his career he integrated technological features in his art, using extensively mixed techniques and industrial materials (engines, mirrors, photocells). Initially he made use of the conquests of abstract art, emphasizing on the compositions’ disciplined structure and the materials’ texture. His interest in the function of light led him to lumino-kinetic works for a while (Kinoptics), with which he became well-known in the international art scene during the ‘60s. At the time, he was an exclusive artist of Redfern gallery in London, while in 1965 he exhibited for the first time in Athens (Hilton Art Hall). In his effort to express his complex concerns regarding human communication, nature’s regenerative power and the consequences of scientific developments on natural processes (Naturmatic, Erosions), he used a wide variety of artistic media, seeking his materials sometimes in nature, sometimes in advanced technology, and other times in the somewhat more traditional techniques of representational painting.
When he returned in Greece in 1990, he cooperated with Desmos gallery and settled in Chania, maintaining, though, for several years his close ties to France.
He presented his work in more than twenty solo shows in Greece, France, England, and other European countries. He also participated in many group shows, especially in France (Salon de la Jeune Peinture: 1958, 1959; Salon des Realites Nouvelles: 1972) He participated in the Avantgarde Griechenland exhibition (Berlin, 1968), through which Greek avant-garde artists were introduced in Europe. His first retrospective exhibition Transformations: 1950-2000 was organized in 1999 in Athens (To Milo Artspace). His second retrospective was presented at the Chania Municipal Gallery in 2005.