Maria Pantagoutsou

Maria Pantagoutsou is an artist born in Athens, Greece. She lives and works in Germany. She studied at the Essen University of Fine Arts, specialising in painting and graphic art in Markus Vater’s class. She is currently studying graphic design under Bettina van Haaren at Dortmund Technical University.

Speaking

about her artistic practice, she says: “In recent years, I have been exploring painting in depth. In doing so, the materiality of painting has become particularly important to me: the brushstroke, the canvas and the direct handling of paint. I am especially interested in how much the trace of the brush itself can reveal. The brushstroke lends the works a graphic character reminiscent of linear hatching.

I experiment with different types of brushes and explore the application of paint, the amount of paint and the pressure applied to the canvas. I navigate between the lightness of the brushstroke and the opacity of dense areas of colour. The expressive brushwork on the beige, raw canvas enters into a dialogue with dense spaces of colour; transparency meets opacity. The veiling of the textile fabric by paint creates a space of its own for its revelation. Priming the canvas is an essential part of my process. It is at this stage that I decide which areas will remain exposed and where dense areas of colour will be created. The composition is determined before I begin painting, yet there remains scope for spontaneous changes during the working process.

I develop

my motifs from drawings, my sketchbook and my personal photo archive. The landscapes of my homeland, Greece, are among my most important sources of inspiration: the sea, the rocks, the vegetation, but also architectural structures – from ancient ruins to the urban density of Athens. Architectural elements such as columns are directly linked to the body in my works. They change shape, become soft or merge with organic forms such as hair or trees. This creates transitions between architecture, the body and nature.

My exploration of the female body is particularly intense. I deliberately depict it outside conventional ideals of beauty and challenge normative images of femininity. My artistic practice thus becomes an act of resistance against stereotypical body images and against silence."

Education2021–2025: Studied Painting/Graphic Art at the HBK Essen

2025: Bachelor of Fine Arts under Markus Vater and Nicola Staatlich

Since 2025: Studying Graphic Design at TU Dortmund under Bettina Van Haaren

Awards and Scholarships

10/2023 – 10/2024: Germany Scholarship 2023/24, BMBF

Resid

encies

2026

Artistic

residency and final exhibition on the theme ‘The Other’, ArToll Art Laboratory, Bedburg-Hau

Exhibitions

2025