Biography

BIOGRAPHY OF THE ICONOGRAPHER – PAINTER CHRYSOULA NTELLA VAKOUFARI

I was born and raised in Athens. Since childhood, art has been a deep inner calling, first expressed through the discipline and beauty of classical ballet. In search of my professional path, I was led to a twenty-year journey (from 1995) with the distinguished “Orchestra of Colours” of the late Manos Hadjidakis, a period that decisively shaped my aesthetic perception. Today I work at the Greek National Opera, a place where art and culture meet in a unique way, both in Greece and internationally.

Following a more personal and deeper artistic quest, I decided to devote myself exclusively to freehand drawing and, above all, to Byzantine iconography. My formal training began with a four-year course of study (2012-2016) at the Cultural Centre of the Holy Church of the Holy Trinity in Vyronas, which led to a Diploma, and was complemented by my studies at the corresponding centre of the Holy Church of Saint Dionysios the Areopagite in Athens.

My apprenticeship in the art of iconography was completed with a five-year period of in-depth study (2018-2022), during which I had the honour of working as the exclusive assistant of the internationally acclaimed iconographer and painter Konstantinos Georgopoulos.

My works have been presented in numerous group and solo exhibitions at important art venues in Greece and abroad, among them the Municipal Gallery of Piraeus, the Medieval “De Milly” Hall (UNESCO) in Rhodes, the Hellenic-French Association in Kolonaki, the “Adamantia” Art Centre in Andros, as well as international exhibitions in Austria, Cyprus (International Triennale) and Italy, at Palazzo da Mula in Venice.

In 2025 my work received the Iconography Award at the Annual Panhellenic Visual Arts Competition of the “Parnassos” Literary Society. My work is also included in the book “Painters & Iconographers of the Present … Rising Great Painters & Iconographers of the Future” by Michail Michalakis (D. Benos Publications, 2021).

My works can be found in churches in Athens and other cities of Greece, as well as in private collections. My artistic journey and works have been featured and presented by the Greek press and media.

For me, every icon is a dialogue with tradition, as well as a personal, living expression of art today.