Thanasis Bakogiorgos was born in 1942 in Mavromata, Evrytania. He lives and works in Thessaloniki.
As a child, he painted and modeled figures out of clay, and was a contributor to the magazine To Spiti tou Paidiou (‘The Child’s Home’). He studied scenography and interior design at the Athens School of Fine Arts (1962–1964) in the studio of V. Vassiliadis. During the 1960s, he engaged in interior decoration, sketching, cartooning, and the illustration of publications and books. Thematically, his painting draws inspiration from folk art, his childhood experiences, and the landscapes of his birthplace, as well as the Byzantine past of Thessaloniki—characterized by distinctive panoramic, cartographic views—Mount Athos, and Meteora. He first presented his paintings at the YMCA of Athens in 1961. This was followed by thirty solo exhibitions in London (where he lived from 1969 to 1972), Ioannina, Thessaloniki, and Athens. He has also participated in group exhibitions in Athens, Thessaloniki, Nicosia, and elsewhere.
In 1972, he settled permanently in Thessaloniki, where he served as the artistic director of the ‘Panselinos’ Art and Literature Center of Thessaloniki, which maintained a notable exhibition schedule (1975–1988). Concurrently, he deeply researched and studied Greek folk art. He paints old furniture, chests, and mirrors, and decorates spaces inspired by folk tradition. He has presented work of this kind in Athens, Giannitsa, Ioannina, Xanthi, and other cities.