Bio

Maria Karametou is a mixed media artist, writer, and professor with an international exhibition record thatincludes: the Ludwig Museum for International Art, Aachen, Germany; the Vorres Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece; the National Museum of Women, Washington, D.C.; the National Gallery of Art, Sofia, Bulgaria; Apartman Projesi, Istanbul Turkey; Trito Mati Gallery, Athens, Greece; Elite Gallery, Moscow, Russia; Kunstwerk Carlshütte, Büdelsdorf, Germany; A. Taki Gallery Istanbul, Turkey; Asian ArtWorks, Beijing, China; Sejong Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea, among many others.

In the U.S. her work has been shown at The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.; The Holter Museum, Montana; The John Elder Gallery, New York, N.Y.; The Shiva Gallery, New York, N.Y.; The Baltimore Museum; The North Dakota Museum; The Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C.; The Montana Museum; The Danville Museum (VA); The Portsmouth Museum (VA); The Harper Collins Gallery, New York, N.Y; Comus Gallery, Portland, Oregon; Selby Gallery, Sarasota, Florida; J. Scott Gallery, Johnson, Vermont, among numerous others. Karametou has also exhibited extensively in the Washington D.C. area where she lives, including at the C. Grimaldis Gallery (Baltimore); the Ellipse Arts Center; the Arlington Arts Center; Flashpoint; Washington Square; the McLean Project for the Arts; the Washington Project for the Arts; Maryland Art Place; the Baltimore-Washington International Airport; School 33 Art Center; Gallery 10, etc., and was represented by Gallery K from 1987 until its’ closing in 2003. Other gallery representations have included the C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD, and Trito Mati Gallery, Athens, Greece.

International collaborative projects include “Penelopeia”, sponsored by the Presidency of the European Union; being a visiting artist at the international symposium “Earth” (Skopelos Foundation for the Arts, Skopelos Island, Greece); organizing and curating “Converging Parallels” in collaboration with Turkish artist Biret Tavman (Ayse Taki Gallery, Istanbul);  “EcoReflections” in partnership with artist C. Demir, (Resim ve Heykel Müzesi Galerisi, Ankara, Turkey); and the “Vegoritis” Project, Macedonia, Greece. 

Her creative writing is published in two poetry anthologies, the Bethesda Magazine, her artist books, and she is the author of the literary novel “The Amalgam”, as yet unpublished. 

Karametou’s work is in permanent collections worldwide, including The Vorres Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece; the Baltimore Museum; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, Greece; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Crete, Greece; The Inova Hospital Group, McLean, VA; the Freddie Mac Corporation; and was in the collection of His Excellency the U.S. Ambassador to Greece and Mrs. T. Miller during his tenure. 

Numerous reviews include The Washington Post; the Baltimore Sun; the New Art Examiner; To Vima; the Kathimerini; Epikera magazine; The Evening Sun; The Washington City Paper; Baltimore City Paper; SMCK magazine; the Voice of America; the Washington Review; The Alternative; Eikastika Magazine; National Herald; Hellenic News; Vogue Magazine (Greek edition), as well as an “Antenna” Greek Television interview, and inclusion in the book “The Power of Visual Logos” (ICAN 2003). 

She is the recipient of many awards such as a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar Award from the Council for the International Exchange of Scholars, the First Prize in the Maryland Biennial, and Individual Artist Grants from the Maryland State Arts Council. She served on the Board of Directors of the Arlington Arts Center from 2004 -2012 and is a juror and curator of several shows. 

Karametou first studied painting and drawing in her native Greece under Theodore Drosos, and immigrated to the U.S. after high school. She holds the Bachelor of Arts from the University of Maryland (cum laude), and the MFA from the Hoffberger Scool of Painting, Maryland Institute of Art, Baltimore, where she studied with renowned artists Grace Hartigan and Salvatore Scarpitta. She is a professor at the School of Art, George Mason University, where she directed programs abroad to Italy and Greece, and now serves at the Director of the Drawing Division. Karametou has taught for a variety of other institutions including the University of LaVerne, The University of Maryland (European Division), and George Washington University.