Georgios Zongolopoulos was born in Athens in 1903.

In 1924 he enrolled at the School of Fine Arts, Athens in the studio of Thomas Thomopoulos where he graduated in 1930.

In the 1930s he was employed by the architecture department of the Ministry of Education and worked on schools, museums and churches.

He continued his studies first in Paris, on a scholarship from the French government in the studio of Marcel Gimond between 1949 and 1950 and later on a scholarship from the Greek government, studied the techniques of copper casting in Rome and Pistoia between 1953 and 1954.

Zongolopoulos' work is characterised by the constant renewal of form, material, medium and its relationship with space. He utilises light and movement, shape and sound, positive and negative space. These qualities are apparent in the architectural landscaping of Omonia Square (1958-1960), his abstract sculptures of the 1960s, his kinetic sculptures of the 1970s, the use of water and lenses in the 1980s, his renowned Umbrellas of 1990. His work is in endless dialogue with space.

Zongolopoulos’ large scale sculptures are exhibited in public parks and squares all around Greece. Additionally, he presented his work in a large number of solo and group exhibitions, notably; the 1940,1956, 1964, 1993, 1994 Venice Biennale, the 1946 Cairo Biennale, the 1947 Grekisk Konst Konstakademien, Stockholm, the 1957 Sao Paolo Biennale, the 1963 Sculpture Contemporain Musee Rodin, Paris, the 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975 Salon de la Jeune Sculpture, Paris.

In 2004, a few months before his death he established the George Zongolopoulos Foundation.

His work is found in many public and private collections, notably that of the National Gallery of Greece, the Athens Municipal Gallery, the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, the Teloglion Fine Arts Foundation and the National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation.