Mastichiadis Fotis

He was born in Ayvalik in 1913. In 1922, during the Asia Minor Catastrophe, he took refuge in Mytilene and the following year he settled in Thessaloniki. From a very young age he showed his inclination in drawing and, as early as 1929, he began collaborating with newspapers and magazines ("Fos", "Macedonia", "Children's Physique", etc.), publishing illustrations, cartoons and sketches. . In 1939, he went to Athens where he was introduced to the techniques of engraving, especially lithography and chromolithography, at the graphic arts factory ASPIOTI-ELKA. At the same time he studied for two years with Fotis Kontoglou. In 1942, he was hired by the Bank of Greece and specialized in the engraving of banknotes, where he worked closely with the engraver Alexandros Korogiannakis. In his work he dealt with all types of engraving (copperplate, linoleum, lithography), as well as with the monotype, but with a special performance in oxygraphy. His artistic creation is entirely documentary and anthropocentric. His deepest interest focuses on the eternal struggle of man against the catalytic force of time and the sense of decay and desolation. His work has been presented in several solo exhibitions, while he participated in a number of group exhibitions in Greece and abroad.