"Memento Mortem" at Pantheon Gallery

Angelo Evangelou show mementum Mortem is opening on Saturday March 1, at 7.00pm

This is the third solo exhibition by Angelo Evangelou who has also exhibited brilliantly at the Nicosia Open studios. Very strong, emotional work.

Here are some excellent comments sent to The Cyprus Weekly by the gallery.

"The themes explored in the works of Angelo Evangelou are life, death, rebirth and the nature cycle of time. Leading colours: black, red and ochre.

The canvas is torn and is sewn one again with a red thread and different media are used upon these works such as earth, melted candle and calendars.

The work bears intense symbolisms, such as the cross, a prehistoric, international symbol of primordial man and the completion of the human soul.

The works consist of two levels: the external level is a piece of canvas that has undergone alterations, destruction and an external metamorphosis, while the internal canvas includes representations of life and the beginning of recreation.

By burning the fire – as a source of life and death – has created openings on the external canvases through which the internal reality of the second canvas reveals life and re-creation.

The artist will say: ‘The earth and dust attract us.

The attraction of this gravity, this seductive glamour is so powerful that we spend our whole life attracted to earth and all its derivatives which nourish us.

And when we die we enter deep inside of her, offering our bodies to earth in order to become one with its eco system.

The erotic relationship reaches its peak with the offering of our bodies as a gift to earth, all the while wishing for a rebirth and metamorphosis.

Through burial in the dark, we return as an embryo in earth’s womb, a seed which resists the irrevocable death that awaits the rebirth and the photosynthesis and wants to bring the light to the surface once again’”.

The opening of the exhibition will take place on Saturday March 1, at 7 pm.

The exhibition will be opened by a short theatrical act that was put together based on the ideas and texts that run through the work of Evangelou.

Participating are the actor Marios Ioannou and the musician Yiannos Kyriakides on the percussion.

The theatrical intervention to the visual event will be presented at 7.30 pm, and is staged by Andri Constantinou.

Duration of exhibition until March 8.

Danibegashvili at Diachroniki

Christos Kikas writes that Danibegashvili’s paintings remind one of Modigliani, yet they are certainly the personal style of the artist.

Faces painted in a more modern style, they gaze with deeply depressed melancholic eyes reminiscent of submission or obedience but also pride and eroticism.

The colours vary from the deep black of depression to the strikingly erotic red in a feast of colour and light which accentuate the senses.

Amiran Danibegashvili was born in Georgia in 1954. He is a member of UNESCO’s International Federation of Artists and the Art Union of Tiblisi. He has taught several famous artists including Ebanoidze who now competes with his mentor.

His show is at Diachroniki until February 28.

Kassianidou at Gloria

Marina Kassianidou has stated in a booklet:

"When I am painting, I am building a visual/ textural language that, somewhat like poetic language, is ambiguous.

I suppose I would like to make paintings that, in Luce Irigaray’s words, create "without resolving or dissolving into dichotomies," paintings that do not hide a secret but rather constitute a secret.

After all, that which has yet to be revealed is never exhaustively revealable.

The exhibition continues until March 4.

Group at Opus 39

Until February 29, Opus 39 are having a group exhibition of paintings and installation by Tereza Pilava, Mariza Bargilly, Teresa Ferrahian, Theodora Papachrysostomou, Sofia Hadjipapa, Nitsa Hadjigeorgiou, Myrto Makridou, Nicoletta Erotocritou, Ramon Trias, Doros Heracleous, Luis Guzman, Anthi Farmaka, Varvara Georghiou, Demetris Menikou.

From Wednesday, March 5 until 17, there will be an exhibition by Athinoula Kyriacou who was born in Nicosia in 1957. Graduating in 1975 from the Grammar School, she then studied drawing and painting from 2003 to 2007 at the Nicoletta Erotocritou workshop. Now she has her own workshop.

She remarks that her work focuses on cosmic scenes where light comes in conflict with the darkness of her compositions.

She believes that if whoever looks within oneself, deep inside one’s soul, will find the strength out of the darkness (which leads us nowhere) and into the light, truth and happiness.

Venice -

Limassol

Vera Efthymiou Patsalidou, Theomaria Art Gallery, Limassol.

The Mayor of Limassol, Andreas Christou opens this exhibition and workshop on Wednesday at 7.30 pm and will be introduced by Dr Nadia Anaxagorou, supervisor of the Cultural Department of Limassol Municipality. The workshop includes a lecture about the history of masks and the way of creation and decoration. The gallery will provide different designs of masks and all the materials for painting and decorating.

For participating tel 25745777.

LA gallery portrays paparazzi

photos as art form

LOS ANGELES (Reuters)

Paparazzi are getting a lot of bad press these days, so it takes some chutzpah to launch a photography exhibit called "Paparazzi as an Art Form" in the heart of celebrityville.

Billed as one of the first shows of its kind, the Los Angeles-based paparazzi agency Buzz Foto began a week-long exhibit of glossy pictures of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and other stars that they believe could one day grace the walls of major museums and art galleries.

Buzz Foto hopes its 26 shots will show that paparazzi photography, despite its reputation for intrusiveness and bad manners, can be a form of art.

"Our photographs have the potential to hang next to those great masters. Executed properly, images of today's celebrities can exude an incredible amount of style and elegance that portray our ever-changing and exciting pop culture," said Buzz Foto co-founder Brad Elterman, a 30-year industry veteran.

"No-one has thought about being proud of paparazzi. People think we are just one step above being child molesters. But we are not tacky people," Elterman told Reuters.

On the walls of the Maryam Seyhoun Gallery on Melrose Avenue - a stone's throw from the famed celebrity and paparazzi hangouts of The Ivy restaurant - a startled Diana Ross is captured, without make-up, pushing a shopping cart in her local supermarket.

Swimsuit

Socialite Paris Hilton is snapped wearing a leopard print swimsuit and high heels, clutching a tiny dog in one hand and placing a neon pink surfboard into a luxury car.

A single image of Britney Spears, shot in the summer of 2007, shows the fallen pop star wearing a pink wig, sitting in a car, and staring blankly straight at the camera lens.

The 24-hour paparazzi pursuit of Spears during her highly-publicised meltdown for what is thought to be a bipolar disorder has brought controversy and condemnation.

Several paparazzi trailing Spears night and day have been arrested for reckless driving and she has been followed by photographers into churches and bathrooms, prompting one Los Angeles councilman to propose a "personal safety zone" law to protect celebrities from intrusive photographers.

Buzz Foto says it does not assign photographers to trail the troubled pop star because working with the "pack", with its crushes and high-speed chases, is too dangerous and the market for wacky Spears pictures is saturated.

But Elterman and business partner Henry Flores say there is no longer a market in posed pictures of celebrities.

"The red carpet is dead. Magazine editors want to see these people in real-life situations," Elterman said.

They are not alone, it seems. Several celebrities have accepted invitations to opening reception where the photos are expected to be snapped up for around $2,000 each.

Artspace

Angelos Antonopoulos Diadromes Artspace Art Studio 55, Limassol.

The Pegasus ART Foundation presents an exhibition by Angelos Antonopoulos which continues until February 26.

Kypriaki Gonia

Larnaca

Until tonight, Friday.

Christodoulos Kodjapashis was born in Mammari on the October 28, 1926 and died on November 6, 1988, at the age of 62. He completed only the first three years of primary school.

Andrew Efstathiou’s exhibition opened on Tuesday February 5, at Gallery Morphi, Limassol. Highly imaginative figurative paintings encompassing crowd scenes and movement. It continues until February 29.

Technis Dromena Gallery (Strovolos) and the Haemophilia Society is holding a ceramic and mosaic exhibition that ends tonight, Friday. Net profits will be given to the Cyprus Haemophilia Society.

Aspelia Gallery Larnaca has an exhibition of ceramics by Sevcan Cerkez titled ‘Reflections’ that continues until March 5.

"The gallery will be filled with figures of human proportions, human in more than just their size, they are figures moulded from the realities of Cyprus. Sevcan’s purpose is to immortalise the Cypriot, who through misfortune and hardship has held on to dignity”.

SOLOS 2008

At Castelliotissa

Lia Voyiatzi and Christos Christou at Castelliotissa Hall, Paphos Gate, Friday, February 29 to March 15.

Lia Voyiatzi paints extremely powerful and moving portraits. Large great canvases. A must.

Christos’ abstract paintings have recently become more and more minimal which at the same time project more strength. The tension they evoke can be considerable. His sure and confident brush strokes – even when they are just a few seemingly delicate marks – have an innate power, suggesting that the weight of the whole canvas is supportive of the image. Also a must.

On the 7th March at 8 pm Druminspired presents a dynamic live drum performance with 20 African drums. Free entrance.

Mychael Barratt

Etchings

The directors of Gallery K open this winter season presenting for the first time a major exhibition of the painter and printmaker Michael Barratt, whose work style could be best described by the term "Neo-symbolism".

New York auction raises

$42m for AIDS relief

NEW YORK (AP)

A celebrity-studded Valentine's Day charity auction of contemporary artworks - all inspired by the colour red and the concept of love - raised more than $42.5m or έ29m, to benefit HIV/AIDS relief programs in Africa, Sotheby's auction house said.

Organized by Sotheby's, U2 lead singer Bono, artist Damien Hirst and Manhattan's Gagosian Gallery, Thursday night's sale blasted past the maximum of $29m or έ20m it was expected to bring in, Sotheby's said. The event set sale records for 17 artists, including Howard Hodgkin, Marc Quinn and Keith Tyson, the auction house said.

"Tonight we got serious about love, and not just the love of art, but the love of our brothers and sisters suffering from AIDS in the poorest places on the planet," Bono said in a Sotheby's release.

The auction included pieces donated by dozens of artists, among them Jasper Johns, Jeff Koons and Ed Ruscha. Hirst gave seven of his works, including "Where There's a Will, There's a Way," a pill cabinet filled with medications used to treat HIV. It sold for $7.15m or έ4.9m, Sotheby's said.

The event drew a high-wattage crowd that included domestic diva Martha Stewart, hip-hop entrepreneur Russell Simmons, actor Dennis Hopper and tennis star John McEnroe, Sotheby's said. Model Christy Turlington bought Francesco Clemente's "Red Flower on Scorched Earth" for $170,500 or έ116,600, according to the auction house.

The prices included a 10% buyer's premium. Proceeds will go the United Nations Foundation and will support programmes run by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Sotheby's said.