Born in Velo, Corinthia, in 1948, he studied graphic design at the Centre for Technological Applications and the painting under Y. Moralis and stage design under V. Vassiliadis at the ASFA (1975-1980). Between 1981 and 1984 he continued on a Greek state scholarship at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris under J. Lagrange and L. Cremonini, attending also classes in material technology under A. Pingas. Since 1998 he was professor of painting at the School of Fine Arts of the University of Thessaloniki, and served as president of the Dept of Visual Arts in 2005-2007.
One of the main aims of Golfinos is to explore space and materials and link painting to the environment. In the gestural chromatic composition of his early works he introduces iconographic objects from the surroundings which make up the structure and organisation of the abstract image. Later he incorporates in his paintings the very natural materials from the depicted scene—soil, sand, tree branches, pebbles from the rivers of his birthplace—to create paintings-objects with special emphasis to the details in colour and design. His more recent works are based on a complex chromatic system that organises the composition from the inside out, following the rules of an architectural process. Indeed, some cracks in the material reveal pieces of digital printouts which attempt to breakdown the handmade image and demonstrate time’s duration, flow and historicity.
He presented his work in over 20 solo exhibitions in Greece and Cyprus and participated in dozens of group shows in Greece and abroad: 16e Festival International de la Peinture, Cagnes-sur-Mer 1984 (represented Greece, with G Milios, and received a commendation), 30e Salon de l΄Art Contomporain de Montrouge, 1985, “In Progress” (Bremen 1993), 42e Salon de Montrouge 1997, XIX Biennale of Alexandria 1997, Visual Panorama in Greece, 2007; Artistic innovation, semiology of its terms in the new age (Thessaloniki 2007), etc.