Georges Lazongas was born in Larisa in 1945. He initially studied architecture at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki from 1963 to 1970, but eventually dedicated himself fully to his love of painting in Paris , thanks to a scholarship awarded by the French Government in 1976. In the Paris, he met gallerist Alexander Iolas who served as his guide among the constantly renewing generations of contemporary artists and avant-garde movements.
Upon his return to Greece, he became a teacher and educated future generations of Greek artists. He taught at the Department of Architecture of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki from 1982 to 1999, and in 2008, he was elected professor at the Athens School of Fine Arts, where he taught until 2012.
Among his most celebrated artworks and series is the Blind Painting, which has been presented in numerous national and international exhibitions (Biennale des Jeunes, Paris in 1980, Art et Poésie, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, in 1981, the Sao Paulo Biennale in 1983, among others) after being unveiled for the first time at the exhibition, Mythologies of the Book, in Frankfurt. In the artist’s own words: ‘blind painting, drawings as extensions of the hands, a touch of the fingers; recalling the prehistory of instinct; I am at the centre and the periphery at the same time, palimpsest, fragment, décollage’.
Thousands of Athenians see his work on a daily basis, as his public commissions in the Greek capital are numerous. In 2008, for example, he created a permanent installation for the ‘Eleonas’ metro station in Athens.
In 1970, he received an award at the Goethe Institute of Thessaloniki competition for young painters and in 1972 he won the first prize at the Hellenic American Union’s young painters’ contest.
Lazongas lives and works in Athens.
