Drakouli Iris (1929)

Born in Athens in 1929, from 1948 to 1956 she studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts, painting under Yannis Moralis and printmaking under Yannis Kefallinos. Next (1958-1960) she obtained a Greek state scholarship to study lithography in Paris at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts and weaving at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs. In 1965-1967 she taught freehand drawing and advertising at the Vakalo School, and from 1985 to 2000 she was an assistant at the Stage Design Workshop of the Athens School of Fine Arts. She worked also as illustrator of children’s books.
In her first exhibitions (Athens 1961, 1963) she presented works on batik-painted fabric, yet her main artistic activities were in the fields of printmaking and painting. These two sides of her work are closely associated and complementary, visually as well as in terms of subjects. Everyday scenes, interiors, still lifes and landscapes are the dominant themes in her painting, with the human figure appearing somewhat more frequently in her prints. Her knowledge of techniques and artistic ways is reflected in her prints and paintings alike. The linear rendering of the figures alternates or coexists with a painterly quality that highlights the role of colour. The wealth of colour is sometimes emphasised and sometimes subdued in favour of monochromes with a reflective or lyrical mood.
She has presented her work in seven solo exhibitions in Athens and has participated in several group shows of painting and printmaking in Greece and abroad. She took part in Panhellenic Exhibitions (1957, 1963, 1965, 1975), in the Biennale for Young Printmakers (Paris, 1963), the Exhibition of Contemporary Greek Printmaking (New York, 1981), the Panhellenic Printmaking Exhibition (Athens, 1985), Post-war Greek Printmaking (National Gallery, Athens 1988), Gravures Helléniques Contemporaines (Luxemburg, 1994), etc. Her works can be found in public and private collections in Greece.