Stelios Faitakis trained as a painter and was one of the pioneering figures in the street art movement that flourished in Athens since the mid-1990s. Faitakis’ figurative, anthropocentric paintings and murals are political and social allegories, packed with visual information, multi-layered narratives and dense symbolism. Executed in the resuscitated and reinvented style of icon painting and cross-fertilised with a variety of other visual references Faitakis’ works possess an unmistakeable visual character. Apart from the obvious influence of Byzantine icon painting, Faitakis’ work is informed – equally – by graffiti, urban culture and Mexican muralism (particularly Diego Riviera).

Stelios Faitakis was born in 1976 in Athens, Greece where he also lives and works. He is a graduate of the National School of Fine Arts, Athens. Faitakis has been commissioned to do in situ murals at Palais de Tokyo, Paris, permanent commission for Lasco Projects, curated by Hugo Vitrani (2016), ”Shit & Die” Palazzo Cavour in Turin, curated by Maurizio Cattelan, Myriam Ben Salah and Marta Papini (2014), “How far is the horizon?” in Holbæk, Denmark (2013), Arsenale 2012, 1st Kiev Biennial curated by David Elliot, Kiev (2012); “Speech Matters”, Danish Pavilion, 54th Venice Biennial curated by Katerina Gregos, Venice (2011); “Art in the Streets”, MOCA – The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2011); Wynwood Walls, Miami (2009); “Destroy Athens”, 1st Athens Biennial, Athens (2007).