Caterina Pizanias, PhD

Dr.  Caterina Pizanias (Katerina Pizanias, Κατερίνα Πιζάνια) was born and raised in Athens and has spent her adult life in Canada.  She received her doctorate in the Sociology of Art from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, in 1993.  She has lectured on artistic practices and the politics of aesthetics at numerous institutions, including the University of Calgary and Simon Fraser University in Canada, Zeppelin University in Germany, and the Athens University of Economics and Business in Greece.  She has published extensively, and her research has been recognized with numerous awards, grants and fellowships.  Over the years, she has remained active in arts communities in Canada and Greece, organizing events and exhibitions on both sides of the Atlantic.

For several years, the sociology of knowledge provided a home of sorts, out of which she travelled to and lived in various disciplines.  Since 2000, she has not only been ignoring disciplinary boundaries, but she has happily blurred the boundaries between the conceptual and the creative. She is known for promoting Canadian artists, especially women, and for blending emerging and mainstream artists in her exhibitions to strengthen their international standing.