Zafos Xagoraris (Athens, 1963) has studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with an Alexander S. Onassis Foundation scholarship. His Ph.D. was about the construction of miracles by Hero of Alexandria (Department of Architecture of the National Technical University of Athens).
He has presented various personal exhibitions while his work is consisted by drawings, obstructing devices of visual or other signals and public installations of sound amplification mechanisms.
Xagoraris has participated in exhibitions such as the 58th Venice Biennale, Greek Pavilion, “Mr. Stigl”, 2019, ‘Have we met? Dialogues on Memory and Desire”, Stamps Gallery, Ann Arbor, 2018, Documenta 14, Kassel and Athens, 2017, Politiche della Natura, Fondazione Zimei, Pescara, 2016, 4th Athens Biennial, 2013, Sotto Quale Cielo, Museo Riso, Palermo, 2011, ETICO_F, Termini Imerese, 2010. Also, Manifesta 7, Rovereto, 2008, 1st Bienal Fin del Mundo, Ushuaia, 2007, 1st Thessaloniki Biennale, 2007 and the 27th Sao Paulo Bienal, 2006.
He was one of the curators of the Greek Pavilion of the 9th Venice Biennale of architecture (2004) and the 2nd Athens Biennial (2009), while he has presented the outdoor installations: “Downhill Classroom”, Benaki Museum, Athens, 2015 and “The Performance”, NEON city project, Athens, 2016.
He is currently teaching at the Athens School of Fine Arts and has taught at the University of Patras and Sassari. He was a Witt Artist in Residence at the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design, University of Michigan, 2018, a visiting scholar at the Columbia University, NY, (Fulbright Scholar, 2004). He has been invited to present his work at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, D’Annunzio University, Pescara, IUAV, Venice, Academy of Fine Arts, Palermo, School of Visual Arts, NY, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and many others.
Books about his work have been published by Patakis Publishers, “The Arrow and the Eye”, Athens, 2002 and “Amps” (designed by metoo, Athens, 2006), the Athens National Museum of Contemporary Art, EMST, “Three Bells”, 2003 and Postmedia Books, “Silencers and Amplifiers” (edited by Massimiliano Scuderi) Milan, 2009.
“Zafos Xagoraris - The Performance” (edited by Katerina Gregos and designed by Speculoos) NEON, Brussels and, as part of his participation in documenta 14, “The Niche” (designed by VIER5) were published in 2017.