Biography

SNOW GUMS

Snow Gums offers us a contemporary view of an ancient landscape. With his signature meticulous strokes Yanni Pounartzis has created a richly layered statement about the spectacular snows gums of Ngunnawal Country.

The Snow Gums collection is a treatise on the Eucalypts in glorious colour inspired by the pigments and patterns of the natural world. The works are a pointed reminder of the magnificent beauty in the trees around us, which in the blur and busyness of urban life, are often overlooked and undervalued.
The child of post war Greek migrants to Australia, raised in this modern, constructed capital city, Pounartzis is as much inspired by the hard edge architecture of Canberra as by the ancient land it sits in.
His connection to snow gums began with regular trips to the Snowy Mountains as a child. More recently, from visits to the snow gum forests of Namadgi National Park.

There are shades of mid 20th Century master Fred Williams’ eye in this particular iteration of Pounartzis’ work. While the two styles vary greatly, the foundational prospect of basic natural forms of trees, rocks or rivers becoming compositional structural elements, and the Williamsesque aerialism, has a deep influence on Snow Gums.


Yanni Pounartzis is a Canberra based artist. He was born in Canberra and moved to Sydney
where he became a professional artist after attending the National Art School in 2004.
In that time, Yanni developed a distinct style of minimalist abstract paintings with a focus ongeometric hard-edged work, painted freehand.
He has exhibited in numerous Sydney galleries including two solo exhibitions at Gallerie
Pompom, Sydney (formerly MOP Projects).

Yanni’s work was quickly recognised by the Arts
community and was featured in the ABC Art Show, A-Z of Contemporary Art. He was also
featured Art Edit Magazine and the Sydney Morning Herald’s ‘Spectrum’.

In 2014, Yanni spent six months painting in Berlin and was part of a group show at Salon
Dahlmann. His time in Berlin gave him the opportunity to further develop his painting skills
and experience the Berlin Art world.
Yanni returned to Canberra in 2015 and has had three exhibitions since, notably ‘The Lost
Plans’, which was based on the Griffins’ original plan of Canberra and was opened by the
ACT Arts Minister.
Additionally, Yanni was part of the Design Canberra Festival in 2018
where he exhibited ‘Geometric Shadows’ in Petrie Plaza and ‘Great Day, Great Place’ in 2020
with the LGBQTI Flags, City Walk.
More recently, he created the art installation titled 'Big Swoop' as part of the placemaking grant for CRA.