Nikos Kessanlis is elected professor at ASKT (Athens School of Fine Arts)

In February 1982, it was announced that three new professors were elected to the School of Fine Arts: Elias Dekoulakos, Thanasis Exarchopoulos, and Nikos Kessanlis. All three, with their superior teaching, contributed to the revival of the School. This process had already begun in the previous years with the election of artists such as Dimitris Mytaras, Demosthenis Kokkinidis, etc., essentially paving the ground for the new century's challenges. However, the election of Kessanlis was paramount, since with his broader approach, and indeed with his initiatives as dean, he encouraged the transfer of the School of Fine Arts from the premises of the Polytechnic University to its current location on Piraeus Street, preparing it essentially for the challenges of the new century.

Nikos Kessanlis (also known internationally as Nikos) was born in Thessaloniki in 1930. He began his studies next to Giannis Spyropoulos and continued in ASKT (1948-1955) with Giannis Moralis. On a scholarship from the Italian government, he studied conservation and fresco in Rome (1955-1959), while in 1959, he was awarded the Modigliani Prize in Livorno. In the same year, he settled in Paris. During his stay there, he associated with the French academic Pierre Restany and took part in the Nouveau Realisme movement, featuring in the international art scene. He died in Athens in 2004.