The painter and printmaker Iris Xyla-Xanalatou was born in Athens in 1941.
She grew up in England, where she attended an English school and subsequently studied painting and printmaking at the Froebel Educational Institute of the University of London (1961-1963).
Her early works from her time living in London during the 1960s include abstract painting compositions dominated by rich colors with impasto texture. The works she created after 1970 and her permanent relocation to Greece include handmade silkscreens, enriched with photographs and photocopies, featuring figurative subjects: urban and industrial landscapes, seascapes, sailing boats, compositions with birds, flowers, and butterflies, as well as anti-war themes and subjects concerning climate change.
She presented her work in solo exhibitions in Rome, Oxford, Athens, Mytilene, Chios, Spetses, Ermoupoli, and elsewhere. A retrospective exhibition of her work was hosted at the Benaki Museum in 2018. She participated in over one hundred group exhibitions in Greece (e.g., Panhellenics 1967, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1975) and abroad (e.g., Salon d’Hiver 1964, 1965, 1967, Salon d’Été 1974, Ibiza Print Biennale 1974, 1976, 1982, Kraków Print Triennial 1991, Sapporo Print Biennale 1991, Ljubljana Print Biennale 1991, Guanlan International Print Biennial 2011-grand prize, Tokyo International Print Biennale-prize), winning various distinctions.
Her works are held in the National Gallery of Greece, the Municipal Gallery of Athens, the Municipal Gallery of Chania, the E. Averoff Art Gallery, the Ktimatiki Bank, and elsewhere.