Yiannis Parmakellis was born in Heraklion, Crete in 1932.

In 1952, he enrolled at the School of Fine Arts, Athens, where he studied sculpture under Yiannis Pappas, graduating in 1958. On a state scholarship, he continued his studies in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in the studio of Robert Couturier, between 1961 and 1964. He additionally studied under Ossip Zadkine.

His work is mainly anthropocentric or figurative with expressionistic tendencies. Uniquely, abstract, cubist or surrealist elements merge in his sculpture, resulting in a total personal language. He works in bronze, plaster, timber and industrial materials. Important in his oeuvre are commissions of public, large outdoor sculptures.

Parmakellis held a large number of solo exhibitions, in Greece and abroad. He has shown his work in numerous international group exhibitions, such as in 1966 at the Musee Rodin in Paris, the 1967 Sao Paolo Biennale, the 1970 Venice Biennale, in 1971 at the Gallerie Baukunst in Cologne, in 1980 at the Grand Palais in Paris.

In 2011 he was elected a member of the Academy of Athens.

His work can be found in the National Gallery of Greece, the Municipal Gallery of Rhodes, the Goulandris Museum of Contemporary Art in Andros, the Vorres Museum, the Galerie Baukunst in Cologne, the Galleria Pagani in Milan and many other public and private collections.

1. Alexander taming Bucephalus, 343 BC
2. Aristotle educating Alexander, 343-340 BC
3. Philip II appoints Alexander Regent, 340 BC.
4. Battle of Chaeronea, 338 BC
5. Alexander and Diogenes, 336 BC
6. Alexander at the tomb of Achilles, 334 BC
7. Alexander cutting the Gordian Knot, 333 BC
8. Battle of Issus, 333 BC
9. Alexander in Egypt, 332 BC
10. Entrance of Alexander into Babylon, 331 BC
11. Alexander in India, 326 BC
12. Death of Alexander, 323 BC