Aris Kalaizis

Aris Kalaizis (born 1966 in Leipzig) is a Greek-German painter.

Aris Kalaizis grew up, as the son of a Greek political immigrants (Greek civil war), in Leipzig. After an apprenticeship in offset printing and later having been trained as a photo technician, he began his studies in painting in 1992 at the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig (Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst), from which he graduated with summa cum laude in 1997.

He was a master student of Arno Rink from 1997 to 2000. His first individual public exhibition took place in 2005 and was curated by the Marburger Kunstverein. In 2007 he presented his works in New York City for the first time. International recognition followed, after his participation at the Biennale di Venezia (12. Mostra Internazionale di Architettura) as well as at the 4th triennial in Guangzhou (China). The internationally oriented triennial, which took place at the Guangdong Museum of Art, offered Kalaizis a very large room, in order to present eight large-sized paintings. The most exceptional exhibition so far however was arranged at the palace grounds in Greiz (Schlossmuseum Greiz) and was titled, “The Double View.” In Greiz, Kalaizis confronted the historical rooms and premises with modern art. In 2014, a comprehensive museum tour through Germany, Austria and the Netherlands took place. In 2014/15 he painted The Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew or the double Martyrdom. This large-size painting is since Februar 2015 in the Frankfurt Cathedral.

Influences have come to Aris in the person of his professor, during his studies, but in the most recent years, he increasingly has been inspired by the Baroque painter Jusepe de Ribera and the British artist Francis Bacon. He lives and works in Leipzig as a professional painter since 2000.

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