Constantin Xenakis (28 December 1931 – 6 June 2020) was a Greek artist based in France. His work often includes written script, in particular the Hebrew alphabet. symbols and codes of everyday life, traffic signs, alchemy, the zodiac, mathematical and chemical symbols, Egyptian hieroglyphics, letters from the Greek, Phoenician and Arabic alphabets.

Life

Xenakis was born in Cairo, Egypt, on 28 December 1931. He lived mainly in Paris since 1955. In 1976–77 he collaborated with the composer Jean-Yves Bosseur on the work Ornigrammes. He was made a Chevalier de l' Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1986. In 1996 he was awarded the Prix Delmas by the Institut de France, at the recommendation of the French Academy of Fine Arts. The Constantin Xenakis Room in the Fameck community centre was opened in 1991. In 1998 he was given an "Award of Appreciation" at the 24th Olympiad by the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea. His work is held in the National Gallery of Greece and the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art. In May 2022 the contemporary art museum "Constantin Xenakis" was opened in Serres Greece. He died in Athens on 5 June 2020, aged 88.

Works

Selected solo exhibitions