Born in Piraeus in 1959, she was an École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts student under Leonardo Cremonini (1983-1987). Works by her can be found in the National Gallery of Greece, the Frissiras Museum, the Kouvoutsakis Art Institute, the Tellogleion Art Foundation, the National Bank of Greece, the Florina Museum of Contemporary Art, the French Ministry of Finance as well as in private collections both in Greece and abroad. She has illustrated the following books: “I Moni Klironomia” by Giorgos Ioannou (the only legacy, 1995) and “Athina, Diadromes kai Staseis” (Athens, itineraries and stops, collective work, 1999). She lives and works in Athens and Paris.
Anna Maria Tsakali
Works
Solo Exhibitions
2026
From chaos to the world •
Edouard Sacaillan and Anna Maria Tsakali•
Cultural Foundation of Tinos•
Tinos•
(Curated by George Mylonas)•
2024
Le silence des fleurs •
Galerie Minsky•
Paris•
2024
Season of Blossom •
Stand in Line Art Space•
Nicosia•
2023
Body of Time •
Municipal Gallery of Corfu•
Corfu•
(curated by Rozalia Adamopoulou)•
2022
4 Seasons •
Kalfayan Galleries•
Athens•
2022
Secret Gardens •
Teloglion Foundation for Art A.TH.U.•
Thessaloniki•
2018
Galerie Minsky•
Paris•
2016
Transfigurations •
Galerie Lefor Openo•
Paris•
2013
Infini Végétal •
Musée Lambinet•
Versailles•
2012
Labyrinthes Végétaux •
Galerie Lefor Openo•
Paris•
2007
As an Antidote •
Kalfayan Galleries•
Athens•
2006
Portraits of Plants •
Kalfayan Galleries•
Thessaloniki•
2005
Galerie Visconti•
Paris•
2003
Athens Art Gallery•
Athens•
2001
15 Years of Painting •
Cultural Centre•
Lefkada•
2001
Galerie Étienne de Causans•
Paris•
1999
Athens Art Gallery•
Athens•
1996
Titanium Gallery (Titanium Yiayiannos Gallery)•
Athens•
1995
Galerie Jean-Louis Tapiau•
Paris•
1993
Terracotta Art Gallery (TinT Gallery)•
Thessaloniki•
1992
Ekfrasi – Yianna Grammatopoulou Gallery•
Athens•
1991
Galerie Eonnet-Dupuy•
Paris•
1991
Municipal Art Gallery of Heraklion•
Heraklion•
1989
Ora Art and Cultural Centre•
Athens•
2026
From chaos to the world •
Edouard Sacaillan and Anna Maria Tsakali•
Cultural Foundation of Tinos•
Tinos•
(Curated by George Mylonas)•
2024
Le silence des fleurs •
Galerie Minsky•
Paris•
2024
Season of Blossom •
Stand in Line Art Space•
Nicosia•
2023
Body of Time •
Municipal Gallery of Corfu•
Corfu•
(curated by Rozalia Adamopoulou)•
2022
4 Seasons •
Kalfayan Galleries•
Athens•
2022
Secret Gardens •
Teloglion Foundation for Art A.TH.U.•
Thessaloniki•
2018
Galerie Minsky•
Paris•
2016
Transfigurations •
Galerie Lefor Openo•
Paris•
2013
Infini Végétal •
Musée Lambinet•
Versailles•
2012
Labyrinthes Végétaux •
Galerie Lefor Openo•
Paris•
2007
As an Antidote •
Kalfayan Galleries•
Athens•
2006
Portraits of Plants •
Kalfayan Galleries•
Thessaloniki•
2005
Galerie Visconti•
Paris•
2003
Athens Art Gallery•
Athens•
2001
15 Years of Painting •
Cultural Centre•
Lefkada•
2001
Galerie Étienne de Causans•
Paris•
1999
Athens Art Gallery•
Athens•
1996
Titanium Gallery (Titanium Yiayiannos Gallery)•
Athens•
1995
Galerie Jean-Louis Tapiau•
Paris•
1993
Terracotta Art Gallery (TinT Gallery)•
Thessaloniki•
1992
Ekfrasi – Yianna Grammatopoulou Gallery•
Athens•
1991
Galerie Eonnet-Dupuy•
Paris•
1991
Municipal Art Gallery of Heraklion•
Heraklion•
1989
Ora Art and Cultural Centre•
Athens•
Press
The Desideratum Is Painting
The Desideratum Is Poetry
In a world which fragments our sensitivity, the language of painting remains a possibility for getting to know ourselves and seeing the world afresh.
The work is “in the image and likeness” and not a mechanical construct and imitation. Just as the divine was breathed into man through “in the image and likeness”, so in the work of painting the expression of the uniqueness and complexity of the person who has produced it is made possible, but not in the ready-made.
I do not paint the human face, I paint the human look. The lost face must be recovered. I speak of the human adventure in a world which deforms our face.
In painting, what interests me is the metaphor. I need the distance which it creates. That interval which makes possible the transformation of reality. It allows me to develop my imagination freely, it provides space for a choice of features of reality and for a new composition of them, over and beyond stereotypes. In tracing and revealing a covert course followed by the soul, in making the impress of time, with all the doubts, surprises, certainties. This is a poetic process which is rendered possible through the language of painting.
The effort of organising the work, up to its final form, is what makes it possible, over and beyond my original intentions or ideas, for more profound, unseen and organic features to make their appearance. This is for me the magic of painting; the revelation of myself and of the world.
Painting is for me a form of love experienced, as I give expression to all my complexity and individuality: the greatest field of my freedom.
In flowers what attracts me is the fragility and vitality which they possess, the transient and the energising; as well as the tragic element, beauty in a dialogue with death. These are the two boundaries within which the life of man rolls on, where the power of the love for life springs up.
Many of my works show my love for the void. I believe that in every presence there is a void which corresponds to it. I attempt every time to comprehend the quality of this absence. It helps me to gain a better sense of the presence within the stretcher. Presence-absence, the two poles of my imagination, the basis of my sensibility.
Anna Maria Tsakali