Michalis Manousakis was born in 1953 in Chania, Crete. He studied painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts (1979-1984) under D. Kokkinidis and D. Mytaras. He presented his first solo exhibition in Thessaloniki (Diagonios Gallery, 1979). The largest part of his oeuvre is anthropocentric. His interest lies with simplified figures and their relation to their surroundings. In many cases, he creates beyond the canvas, composing conceptual projects or installations with symbolic allusions. Old toys have proved to be a significant tool of inspiration, which he has been meticulously collecting for many years. He teaches painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts since 1987, where he was elected full professor in 2014. He has presented many solo exhibitions and has participated in numerous group shows in Greece and abroad. In 1994, he participated in the Alexandria Biennale, where the Greek participation won the Best National Pavilion Award. He also participated, among others, in the exhibition Classical Memories in Modern Greek Art (Capital Museum of China, Beijing; 2007). In 2012, he presented the exhibition One Meter at the National Museum of Contemporary Art.