Sophia Vari

Sophia Canellopoulou was born near Athens to a Greek father and Hungarian mother. She uses “Vari” as her artist name in homage to her native village. “What I'm looking for is to take geometry, volume, and form and humanize them in space,” she says of her work. One of her main concerns is the integration of her monumental polychrome sculptures into the cities where they have been exhibited: Paris, Florence, Rome, Turin, Monte Carlo, Munich, Baden-Baden, Geneva, Pietrasanta, Athens, Tenerife, Beijing, Shanghai, Madrid, Cartagena de Indias, and London. Complexity, elegance, and harmony merge to become part of the intended space.
She passed away on May 5, 2023, in Monaco.
Since 1970, her works have been exhibited worldwide through solo and group exhibitions, public commissions, and participation in major international fairs.
After living in France, Colombia, Mexico, and the United States, she now lives and works in Monaco, Italy, and Greece. She is married to Colombian artist Fernando Botero. She has a daughter from a previous marriage.
She began painting at the age of sixteen but quickly felt the need to express herself through another medium. A trip to Egypt in 1978 led her to understand the importance of monumental sculpture, and from then on she included bronze and marble in her repertoire. To develop her enjoyment of working with color, she turned to creating assemblages on canvas, in which she “no longer creates with volume but with color, while retaining a sculptural awareness of form.”
Sophia Vari is also renowned for her jewelry designs. Her wearable sculptures gracefully combine geometric lines and sensual curves, and for more than thirty-five years have featured a wide variety of noble and surprising materials.
Her work is characterized by a search for harmony of form and balance, which has remained her signature throughout her career. Her jewelry work has been presented in France by MiniMasterpiece since 2012.