Back to main artist page

George Raftopoulos was born in Sydney in 1972, the son of Greek parents. In the 1970s, the Raftopouloses found themselves to be the only Greek family in the New South Wales town of Grenfell. George had questions of cultural identity in his youth and continues to do so in his paintings today.

George Raftopoulos speaks of his painting as “mapping the memory”. He refers to his paintings incorporating fragmentary references to places he has been, events he has witnessed, and sensations he has experienced. He refers, too, to his paintings touching aspects of his race memory, aspects of his cultural lineage.

Raftopoulos’s paintings have always possessed an expressionist fierceness. He describes his method of painting as an “interactive process”, in that it is undertaken without the safety net of preliminary studies. His work of the mid-1990s was peopled by human/animal hybrids, inhabiting a world that combined playfulness with anxiety and apprehension. Line plays a key role in his current painting, and his line is both economical and swift. It is as firm and elastic as cartilage. Most of Raftopoulos’s works of the last couple of years have turned on a single colour, which sets the temper of the painting. Recently that sole colour has often been a primary colour.

Many of Raftopoulos’s paintings are inscribed with a single word, printed in the Greek alphabet. These are generally references to figures in history, particularly Greek history, whose presence or actions have influenced the outcome of events that touch us still.

As well as Greek words, his paintings often incorporate numerals, usually dual digits. Their significance remains entirely oblique: they may relate to sensitive military formations, engineering calculations, dates, or map coordinates; they may have secret strategic import, or they may be utterly innocuous. They are Delphic and inscrutable.

Taken from: Peter Pinson – Professor – College of Fine Arts – UNSW

Education

1992 – 1994 | Bachelor of Arts – Visual Arts – University Western Sydney – NSW
1996 | Postgraduate Diploma – Sydney College of the Arts – Sydney University – NSW

Awards

2007 | Finalist – Fishers Ghost Art Prize – Campbelltown City Art Gallery – Campbelltown – NSW
1994 | Selected – Mary Alice Evatt Award – Casula Powerhouse – NSW
1994 | Art Matrix Award – University of Western Sydney – NSW
1995 | Melbourne Young Emerging – Ceramicists Award – Melbourne – VIC

Professional Development

2009 | Guest lecturer – Loretto Kirribilli High School as part of HSC syllabus
2008 | Guest lecturer – Loretto Kirribilli High School as part of HSC syllabus
1996 | Screen printing technician – Design Department – University of Western Sydney – Nepean – NSW

Solo Exhibitions

2010 | Flinders Lane Gallery – Melbourne – VIC
2010 | Hillsmith Gallery – Adelaide – SA
2010 | Gallery Reis – SINGAPORE
2010 | Tim Olsen Gallery – Sydney – NSW
2008 | Flinders Lane Gallery – Melbourne – VIC
2008 | Annual Round Table Exhibition – New York Arts Club – Grammercy Arts Club – New York – USA
2007 | Amanda Gillespie Inc – New York – NY – USA
2007 | Hillsmith Gallery – Adealaide – SA
2007 | Axia Modern Art – Melbourne – VIC
2006 | Art Galleries Schubert – QLD
2006 | Paul Gullotti Galleries Perth – WA
2006 | Tim Olsen Gallery – Sydney – NSW
2005 | Axia Modern Art – Melbourne – VIC
2005 | Axia Modern Art – Sydney – NSW
2004 | Axia Modern Art – Melbourne – VIC
2004 | Axia Modern Art – Sydney – NSW
2004 | Gallery Phillip Neville – Darwin – NT
2004 | Shanghai International Art Fair – Shanghai – CHINA
2003 | Bark Modern Art Gallery – HONG KONG
2003 | Axia Modern Art – Melbourne – VIC
2003 | Australian Art Resources – Melbourne – VIC
2001 | Axia Modern Art – Melbourne – VIC
2001 | Liquid – Michael Carr Art Dealer – Sydney – NSW
2001 | Paris Print Biennial – Australian High Commission – Paris – FRANCE
2000 | Bilbao – Michael Carr Art Dealer – Sydney – NSW
1999 | Volvo Gallery – Sydney – NSW
1998 | Olsen Carr Art Dealers – Sydney – NSW
1997 | Varga Gallery – Bourdeaux – FRANCE
1996 | Olsen Carr Art Dealers – Sydney – NSW

Selected Group Exhibitions

2011 | Hidden Worlds – Retrospect Galleries – Broadbeach – QLD
2011 | Invitational Approach to the Landscape – Axia Modern Art Gallery – VIC
2010 | In Association with Alex Perry for Australian Fashion week Hand Painted on silk for Alex Perry Designer Collection. Exhibited at powerhouse Museum Sydney 20 Years of Australian Fashion with Marie Claire.
2008 | Annual Round Table Exhibition New York – Grammercy National Arts Club – New York – USA
2008 | The Cat St Gallery – with Tim Olsen Gallery – HONG KONG CHINA
2002 | Australian Art Resources – Inaugural opening – Sydney – NSW
2002 | De Jeunesse – The Arte Gallery , University of Western Sydney – NSW
2002 | Fifty Five Degrees – Graduating Exhibition – Foyer Gallery Sydney – NSW
2002 | Mary Alice Evatt Award Exhibition – Casula Powerhouse – Sydney – NSW
2001 | Paris International Print Biennale – Australian High Commission Paris –
2001 | Exhibition 124A – Michael Carr Art Dealer – Sydney – NSW
2001 | Horizons – Michael Carr Art Dealer – Sydney – NSW
2001 | Old and New – The Millennium Summer Exhibition 1999-2000 – International and Australian paintings,sculpture and works on paper – Michael Carr Art Dealer – Sydney – NSW
1999 | Axia Modern Art – Melbourne – VIC
1999 | Colgate Palmolive Site Specific project – Sydney – NSW
1999 | Flinders Lane Gallery – Melbourne – VIC
1999 | Lister Calder Gallery – Perth – WA
1999 | Michael Carr Art Dealer – Sydney – NSW
1998 | Australian Contemporary Art Fair – Melbourne – VIC
1998 | Fisher’s Ghost Art Prize – Campbelltown – Sydney
1997 | Acquisition – Gold Coast Art Gallery – QLD
1997 | Benefit Show – Side On Gallery – Sydney – NSW
1997 | Benefit Show – First Draft Gallery – Sydney – NSW
1997 | Devoured by Paint – Olsen Carr Art Dealers – Sydney – NSW
1996 | Next – Honours and Postgraduate Exhibition – College of the Arts – Sydney – NSW
1996 | Two Walls West – University of Western Sydney – NSW
1996 | Resisting bBlackmail – Kinesis Gallery – Sydney – NSW
1995 | Australian Art Post 1960 – Inaugural Exhibition – Olsen Carr Art Dealers – Sydney – NSW
1995 | ART – Sydney Cove Authority – Sydney – NSW
1995 | Annual Fishers Ghost Award – Campbelltown City Art Gallery – Sydney – NSW
1995 | Protests in Art – Arthaus Gallery – Sydney – NSW
1995 | Melbourne New Wave Exhibition of Young and Emerging Artists – Art Around Town Gallery – Melbourne – VIC
1994 | Tales from the Cultural Desert – Liverpool Festival of the Arts – Sydney – NSW
1993 | Distance No Object – Exchange project University of Western Sydney – Macarthur University of Calgary – CANADA
1993 | De Jeunesse – The Arte Gallery – University of Western Sydney – NSW
1993 | Fifty Five Degrees – Graduating Exhibition – Foyer Gallery – Sydney – NSW
1993 | Mary Alice Evatt Award Exhibition – Casula Powerhouse – Sydney – NSW

Collections

ABN AMRO – Sydney – NSW
Babcock and Browne – Sydney – NSW
Credit Suisse – Melbourne – VIC
Gold Coast Art Gallery – QLD
Hugo’s Lounge – Sydney – NSW
Impulse Airlines – Wagga Wagga
Landmine Survivors Network – Washington DC – USA
Maddens Solicitors – Sydney – NSW
Multiplex and Walker Corporation – Wharf Nine – Sydney – NSW
NDC Global – Sydney – NSW
Novell – Sydney – NSW
Oppeus – Melbourne – VIC Freshwater Place – Melbourne – VIC
Pitcher Partners – Melbourne – VIC
Prebon Yemone Brokers – Manhattan – New York – USA
The Art Trust – Sydney and Melbourne
The Chocolate Factory – Sydney – NSW
The Royal Flying Doctors Service
University of Western Sydney – Sydney – NSW
Westpoint Corporation – Sydney – NSW
Westpac Property Fund – Sydney – NSW