John Ioannou's interest in art began early, receiving a very traditional Greek cultural education through high school in both Australia and later in Greece. He had a passionate interest in classical Greek studies and sculpture and throughout his early first career (10 years) as a musician and songwriter in Greece where he visited many of the ancient archeological sites of the region. He returned to Australia in 1983.

Loving the physical beauty of the sculptured form throughout this early period, it was not surprising that collecting tribal art became a major passion, leading him eventually to founding a business in the mid 1990's as a dealer in tribal artifacts including aboriginal art, buying early Papunya boards and wandjina barks.

He collected and traded some of the most prized works in this area, putting together at one point in this time, one of the country's most prestigious collections of tribal shields which are all now published as the core collection in eminent ethnographer Harry Beran and Craig Barry's book Shields of Oceania published in 2005. At the time John Ioannou was Australia's pre-eminent collector of Tribal art with a collection of more than 300 rare books on tribal art.

The establishment of Agathon Galleries in 2004 was a natural move from tribal to contemporary art as the market for indigenous contemporary art was now a thriving scene. This appeared to be a somewhat seamless transition for John as over many years he had been trading with indigenous communities throughout the country, so had a deep understanding of Aboriginal culture, a well established network of collectors and dealers and a massive library.

AGATHON GALLERIES
Established in 2004, the growing recognition of Agathon Galleries as one of the major galleries of contemporary Aboriginal art in Australia is a reflection of the personal dedication and enthusiasm of the Director, John Ioannou in promoting the cultural importance of Aboriginal art to national and international contemporary art circles.

Agathon Galleries Sydney

The Gallery philosophy is to assist artists in the professional development of their careers, nurturing their creative talents and building close and supportive relationships with them and their extended families. Under the terms of the galleries operational policy, all artists receive 60% of the sale price of their work. The majority of work is sourced directly from the community art centres and the rest is sourced through contractual arrangements with individual artists.

VISION
All artists represented by Agathon Galleries have strong relationships with John Ioannou, who has a 15 year background as a dealer in indigenous art in the Australasia-Pacific Region. A passionate advocate of Aboriginal art, he is an initiated member of the Pitjantjatara people and a fluent speaker of the Pitjantjatara language. His visionary gallery and art centre model is unique to the industry as he and his staff take a hands on approach, dividing their time between the city galleries and the community. His aim is to foster the creative talents and professionalism of the artists work and assist in establishing the economic sustainability of the Irruntju Community Art Centre and the wider community through strategically innovative economic ways.

The gallery offers a full range of specialist art advisory services to clients and regularly arranges visits to the communities. Apart from gallery sales, art is marketed online, through the gallery website.

GALLERY STAFF

 
John Ioannou is the Owner and Director of all Agathon Galleries business. John draws from over 20 years experience in tribal and Indigenous contemporary art in the Australasian region. As an initiated Law Man from the Central Western Desert tribes in Australia and a fluent speaker of Pitjatjantjara language. As a highly respected member of the Indigenous community and he has worked closely with the people over many years to assist them to in raising thier living standards and the professionalism of thier art practice. He lives most of his time in Alice Springs with artist Yannima Tommy Watson and travels to extensively to the communities. John's indepth knowledge of Indigneous Law and Culture ( he is the only indigenous gallerist to to have such qualifications) gives him a unique position to understanding the critical issues affecting the cultural and economic survival of Aboriginal people today. He is deeply commited to helping them. 

Marie Geissler draws from over 20 years in business, the arts, journalism and marketing and holds a post graduate degree, GCA (Art History & Theory),from Sydney University and Bachelor of Science degree from the Australian National University. She is an Associate Member of the Auctioneers & Valuers Association of Australia and an Accredited Valuer of Fine Arts and Antiques. Marie is responsible for co-ordinating the activities of the Sydney galleries.  Marie draws from an extensive experience in business, the arts, design, architecture, media, education, technology and journalism. She has worked at the National Gallery of Australia, The National War Museum and The Powerhouse Museum. From a corporate perspective she has worked in a strategic and marketing role for many years for the Deutscher~Menzies Fine Art Auction group including writing on Aboriginal art for their fine art catalogues. She has also worked with Cooee Gallery and Gondwana Gallery.  Her publication records on the arts includes articles in Business Review Weekly, Australian Business, The Australian, The Bulletin, Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review, Australian Collectors Quarterly, Craft Arts International, Indesign, Qantas Club Magazine, Design World, DesignInc, The Collector and The Canberra Times. Marie was the Australian curator for the UNESCO Inneseite Exhibition in 1997 in which over 20 of Australia's leading indigenous artists were showcased alongside major international artists.

Flore Gregorini-Armand draws from an excellent tertiary education and strong legal/ art historical background with over 8 years working experience in various countries and professional environments. Proficient in both French and Italian, she was the Art Gallery Manager for the Red Dot Gallery in Singapore for over two years, her specialization being Australian Aboriginal art. Flore has excellent networking and communication skills, especially within the French community in Australia and France. She has a Post Graduate Degree in European Law from the University of Paris II School of Law.

Kiriaki Orfanos draws from three years of tertiary studies and over 20 years of teaching and writing.  She has a passion for photography and the arts.

Jane Green holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts majoring in Painting and Drawing with qualifications in Graphic Design and Multimedia. She draws from an extensive experience in the arts and design industry, and worked at the National Portrait Gallery London for two years.