Yannis Gazetopoulos is a visual artist and curator born in Athens, Greece. He graduated from Kingston University in England with a BA Honours degree in sculpture and subsequently with a Masters in Fine Arts degree from Hunter College in New York City, where he lived and worked for 18 years. After his first year at college in London he did a four-month photo essay hitchhiking in ten countries in central and southern Africa and upon his return he received a grand from Kingston University to visit New York with a fellow student to interview students and give lectures on British art and education at 6 major NYC Universities. Other grants of that time and awards include Silver award for a photograph in a UK college photo competition at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London. They also include materials and monetary sponsorships as well as awards for his writings. After participating in several group shows in London during his studies, in 1992 he had a solo show at the cultural center Tempio 2000, in Salerno Italy. He then moved to New York for his MFA at Hunter College in Combined Media Conceptual Art, awarded by renown artist and professor Robert Morris. During those studies, Yannis continued to participate mainly with performance art in shows in New York and also London during visits. After the completion of his MFA in 1996, the controversial New York City contemporary art museum Franklin Furnace selected him for a month long solo installation show. However, that event never materialized as the City of New York and the NEA forced the museum exhibition space into closure before his scheduled date in 1997.  Since then Yannis has exhibited in two Mediterranean biennales representing Greece in Tunisia and Algeria and also took part in the 2013 Mykonos biennale. He also curated and participated in numerous smaller art shows and events in the USA and Greece.