Resume Synopsis
Mr. Xenakis received a B.S. in Biology, with a minor in Fine Arts, at Brooklyn College, City University of New York. He studied drawing and painting under Phillip Pearlstein, Paul Gianfagna, Robert Henry, and Milet Andrejevic. He went on to receive a Master in Arts degree in Medical and Biological Illustration, at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in the Department of Art as Applied to Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. He was a professional full-time medical and biological illustrator for about 15 years. He worked at the Eastern Virginia Medical School, and as a freelance illustrator for the medical, publishing, and legal fields.
Thomas was awarded 2 Senior Fulbright Fellowship to Greece in 1994-1995 and 2000-2001. In 1996, he became artist in residence at the Wesley Theological Seminary, Center for the Arts and Religion, Washington, DC. He continued his creative work with the sacred icon and its contemporary applications in media and subject. Thomas completed a Master of Fine Arts, at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Hoffberger School of Painting in Baltimore, Maryland under the guidance of the late, Grace Hartigan, Abstract Expressionist. He was Mrs. Hartigan’s trusted graduate assistant in 1997-1998.
Mr. Xenakis maintains a studio in Silver Spring, Maryland. Since 2003 he is working on a series of sculpted and painted mixed media gilded panels with a variety of precious metals. These works are titled XPYSO (GOLD). This is an on-going series which he continues to exhibit at various venues and he has created about 425 works in this series, and in this time span.
In 1990 began teaching at the Governor’s School for the Arts at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. In 1998 Thomas began teaching a variety of courses in drawing, design, and painting at local universities and community colleges in the Washington DC metro area.
Currently, Thomas teaches drawing, painting, two-dimensional design, color theory, and cross-cultural visual language at Georgetown University in Washington DC, Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia, and Prince Georges Community College in Largo, Maryland. Additionally, he has taught painting and drawing at the Corcoran School of Art and Design, and Northern Virginia Community College. Thomas has been involved in many study abroad tenures to Greece and Italy in academic programs at the Corcoran School of Art + Design, Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia. He is represented in collections throughout the United States, Italy, Greece, France, Australia, and Germany.
March 2018
