Joannis Avramidis

With his monumental figures, which were abstracted by the human body, from circular segments, the artist already became famous in the late 1950s. Striving after a balance between the emphasis on the figure and the simultaneous abstraction of the form, Avramidis developed a highly independent style, following the model of Greek-archaic and classical sculptures. Other sources of inspiration were the works of artists such as Hans von Marées, Constantin Brancusi or Wilhelm Lehmbruck. Avramidis represented Austria in 1962 at the 31st Venice Biennial, together with Friedensreich Hundertwasser, where he met Alberto Giacometti for the first time. After his work as head of the class for drawing at the Viennese Academy and a guest professorship at the Academy of Fine Arts in Hamburg, Avramidis assumed the master class for sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna from 1968 to 1992. Among his students were Reinhard Puch and Wolfgang Götzinger. Avramidis died in Vienna on January 16, 2016 at the age of 93. He was awarded the prize of the City of Vienna for Fine Arts (1964) and the Austrian State Prize for Fine Art (1973) and the Austrian Grand Decoration of honour for sience and art (1985). In addition to numerous national and international exhibitions, the Leopold Museum in Vienna in 2017 presented a retrospective of the artist.