The painter and graphic designer Sotiris Zervopoulos was born in Thessaloniki in 1934 and passed away in 2007.
He pursued independent studies in painting, stained glass, mosaic art, and ceramics under Christos Lefakis (1953–1958). In 1958, he studied drafting at the “Efklidis” Engineering School of Thessaloniki. This was followed in 1960 by studies in painting and applied arts at the Akademie für das graphische Gewerbe in Munich. In 1990, he received a degree from the School of Pedagogical and Technical Education (SELETE) with a specialization as a higher education graduate in graphic design.
He taught at the “Efklidis” Technical School (1962–1994) and at the Department of Architecture of the Faculty of Engineering (1964–1968) as an associate of Christos Lefakis. He worked as a graphic designer and artistic editor for publications, exhibition catalogs, posters, newspapers, book covers, and more. He also worked in scenography.
He was a founding member and honorary president of the Association of Visual Artists of Northern Greece (SKETBE).
His early works belong to the realm of abstraction. Around 1968, he moved into the field of constructivist trends. The motif of the circle and the square became the core and symbolic element of his themes, appearing both in purely non-figurative explorations and in works that introduced neo-representative forms. He was influenced by the achievements of Kandinsky, the masters of constructivism and geometric abstraction (K. Malevich, P. Mondrian, J. Albers), as well as the Paris-based group Cercle et Carré (Circle and Square). After 1975, he integrated diverse materials, either intact or spectral (barbed wire, wood, hand casts), as signs and symbols that materialized his anxiety over environmental pollution, nuclear destruction, political oppression, and economic alienation.
He presented his work in solo and group exhibitions in Athens and Thessaloniki.