Dimitris Yeros

Dimitris Yeros (b. 1948) is one of the most prominent contemporary Greek artists, known for his contributions to photography, painting, and experimental media. Since the early 1970s, Yeros has been associated with European Post-Surrealism, with his early paintings reflecting a strong influence from the movement’s dreamlike imagery and symbolic language. He was a trailblazer in the Greek contemporary art scene, among the first to introduce Video Art, Mail Art, and Performance Art to audiences in Greece.

Yeros began working seriously with photography in 1975, initially creating conceptual and experimental series before turning toward more traditional forms such as still lifes, landscapes, and portraits by the mid-1980s. His photographic practice gained further recognition with the 1987 launch of his seminal series Theory of the Nude, followed by For a Definition of the Nude, which remains one of his most enduring and critically acclaimed bodies of work. These images—often depicting nude male and female figures amidst natural or mythologically suggestive environments—merge classical idealism with contemporary sensibilities, blurring the boundaries between human and animal, reality and fantasy.

Deeply rooted in Greek cultural history and mythology, Yeros’s photographs evoke a return to Arcadian landscapes, charged with themes of sensuality, innocence, and transformation. His carefully constructed compositions often place figures in conversation with the natural world, referencing surrealist traditions while establishing a distinctive personal iconography. His images, while lyrical and visually lush, also explore more ambiguous emotional terrain, creating a visual poetry that invites introspection and mythic resonance.

In addition to his fine art photography, Yeros is also a celebrated portraitist. He has photographed numerous notable cultural figures, including the Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel García Márquez, the subject of a recently released book of Yeros’s portraits. His ability to capture the inner life of his subjects—whether public figures or anonymous nudes—demonstrates his sensitivity to gesture, atmosphere, and emotional depth.

Yeros has exhibited widely, with over fifty solo shows in Greece and internationally, including at Oxford University. He has participated in numerous biennales, triennales, and major group exhibitions around the world. His work is represented in many major public and private collections, including the Tate Britain, the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the International Center of Photography in New York, the National Portrait Gallery and the British Museum in London, and the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris.

Dimitris Yeros continues to live and work in Greece, where he remains a vital and influential figure in contemporary art, known for his ongoing exploration of mythology, identity, and the poetic potential of the human form.