Andonia Giannakouros (b. 1985) is a figurative painter from Dubuque, Iowa. Her work honors the slow, imperfect beauty of handmade patterns—those passed down, stitched, carved, and woven through generations of artisans in her family. Her work is inspired by folk traditions in which embroidery, weaving and painting serve not just as decoration but as vessels of memory, storytelling and shared language. Giannakouros’ perspective is shaped by travels early her life to Greece and the visual rhythms of European streets, where repetition—like the layering of posters or tiles—serves as a visual insistence. Repetition, in her practice, becomes a way to emphasize, to preserve, and to insist on presence. She is drawn to the way stories, symbols, and ideas are conveyed through pattern—how visual forms speak across time and space—and she seeks to tell stories through her own layered compositions.

A figurative painter working primarily in oil and wax on canvas and panel, Giannakouros’ work uses bright colors, handmade patterns, repetition, and symbols to convey stories about human connection and interpersonal dynamics. These stories often explore how language—cultural, social, or visual—shapes and restricts expression, with particular attention to the outliers and the consequences of straying out of the boundaries. Over the past twenty years, her work has been included in solo and group exhibitions in Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Tennessee and is in both private collections and the permanent collection of the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium. Her solo exhibition at the Dubuque Museum of Art opened in 2022. In 2023, she was awarded the Creative Empowerment Subgrant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) awarded by the City of Dubuque’s Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs for her project exhibit, GRID: 100 Mini Paintings, which opened in September of 2024.

Andonia Giannakouros has a public studio in downtown Dubuque that is open by appointment or any time the light is on.