Spyropoulos was born in Pylos, Messinia in 1912 and studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts, under Thomopoulos, Argyros and Vikatos (1930-36). He continued his studies in Paris, at the École des Beaux-Arts under Charles Guerin and at the Academies Colarossi και Julian, on a three-year grant by the Academy of Athens (1938-40). In 1940, he returned to Greece because of the Greek-Italian war. From 1946 to 1967 he was in charge of the cultural events programme for the Workers Social Benefits Organization (OEE). 

In the early years of his artistic career, his painting was figurative, with apparent influences by his studies in Athens and Paris. Around 1954, his style started to shift gradually towards abstraction. In his painting, he employs the expressive power of texture, by attaching and integrating various materials into the work's surface. The gestural interventions (scratches, tears, stains, handwriting) and the evocative use of colour create a personal style of an intensely dramatic nature. 

He was one of the first Greek artists to be affiliated with the movement of abstract art. He represented Greece in the Biennales of Alexandria (1955), Sao Paulo (1957) and Venice (together with Kondopoulos, Lameras, Mylona and Papadimitriou, 1960), where he was awarded the Unesco Prize. He participated in the Documenta III (Kassel, Germany, 1964), in the greek and the international Pavilion of Expo 1970 (Osaka, Japan), in the Documenta Sammlung Kunsteverein (Kassel, Germany, 1975) and in many other international art fairs. At the same time, his work was showcased in solo exhibitions in galleries and museums worldwide.