Artists of fame

and promise

The Arts Page made an error last week. Blame the heat.

The exhibition at Gallery Kypriaki Gonia is not of the students of the Cyprus College of Art.

Opening tonight will be THE exhibition of those painters and sculptors who TEACH at the College.

Nicos Koshis will open the show at 7.30pm.

Dr Michael Paraskos has written about these Artists of Fame and Promise.

"Here are ten artists, all of whom teach at the Cyprus College of Art, and all of whom believe art is an essential part of human life.

"In their work, we see a real commitment to the making of art, not as an illustration of conceptual ideas, but as a sensual, organic and creative activity. This is art that connects to life, both intellectually and physically and through that connection it helps to reconnect humanity to the world."

Those participating are: Phil Bird, Andreas Efstathiou, Anna Georgiou, Margaret Paraskos, Kikis Patsalos, Stanley Paraskos, John Sims, Stass Paraskos , Jennifer Harding, Geoffrey Rigden.

The exhibition will continue throughout the summer until September 11.

Gallery Kypriaki Gonia is at 45 Stadiou, Larnaca.

Cyprus College of Art was founded by Stass Paraskos in 1979.

It accepts 20 full time students every year for its Post Graduate course in painting and sculpture.

All students of the college have a university degree.

The college is very well known abroad. Articles about its activities have been published in many newspapers and magazines in Europe and North America.

On 26 June Bolton University awarded an honorary doctorate to Stass Paraskos in recognition of his services to the arts. Honorary doctorates are the highest academic awards offered by British universities to distinguished artists and scientists.

Art museum opens exhibition on immigrant sorrows, joys in US

Designed to challenge

US politics

CHICAGO (AP)

A WINDOW washer dressed as Spiderman scales a building.

A nanny clad as Cat Woman attends to children. A pizza delivery man wearing Superman garb rides a bike with pies in the basket.

The humorous photographs by Mexican artist Dulce Pinzon depict real immigrant workers in their everyday jobs. But the images also proclaim them as super heroes who work gruelling hours to make a better life for their families.

It's an idea inextricably linked to the immigrant experience in America and one that echoes throughout a new exhibit at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago.

Challenge

The collection, called ''A Declaration of Immigration,'' is designed to challenge US immigration policies and call attention to unsuccessful attempts at reform, according to the museum's president Carlos Tortolero.

''Immigration affects the whole world,'' he said. ''Immigrants are human beings who live in this country and contribute to this country. To be pro-America, you have to be pro-immigrant.''

The approximately 100 pieces - paintings, photographs, sculptures, quilts and artifacts - run the gambit of the immigrant experience.

Quilts tell the story of Hmong immigrants. Photographs show a Korean family's appreciation of Elvis and soccer.

A retablo of carved figurines depicts the harrowing journeys some immigrants make to arrive in the United States.

Tortolero got the idea for the exhibition about two years ago when Congress approved a fence along the US border with Mexico.

Disturbed

He said he was disturbed that both presidential candidates Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama voted for the fence.

So he sees the exhibit as a way to open a discussion about immigration reform, particularly in a presidential election year.

A large sign at the entrance of the exhibit mimics the US Declaration of Independence, proclaiming that America is ''a nation of immigrants.''

It also says that ''the construction of the wall along the United States-Mexico border would stand as a symbol of persecution, much like the 20th century Berlin Wall.''

Several pieces criticise the Department of Homeland Security, particularly immigration policies like fingerprinting foreigners at airports.

Portraits by Danish artist Anni Holm feature the faces of three women from India, Columbia and Italy; their faces are comprised of fingerprints.

Fought

Other works are haunting. In a series of oil paintings by Ana Fernandez, a woman completes menial tasks in outdoor landscapes. In one, she vacuums the border at San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico.

Written on the border wall is: ''No puedo pasar indiferente ante el dolor de tanta gente,'' which translates roughly as, ''I cannot cross (the border) indifferently without acknowledging the pain of so many people.''

Other paintings and drawings depict non-citizen immigrants who have fought in US wars abroad.

A comic book-like drawing by Eric J. Garcia shows a ''G.I. Jose'' poised with a gun. A line underneath him reads:

''Always treated as foreigners except when needed to kill foreigners.'' Nearby an Uncle Sam figure says: ''Se Habla Espanol.''

The exhibit also reflects the lighter side of immigrant life.

One installation, called ''Phone Home'' by Mario Ybarra, is a glass case full of colourful international calling cards. Another piece by Alejandro Diaz shows a series of tongue-in-cheek handwritten signs. One reads: ''No Mexicans/No Tacos/You Better Think Twice America.''

Also included in the exhibit is a photograph of a 2006 immigrants rights march in Chicago when more than 100,000 people took to the streets.

There's also a portrait of immigration activist Elvira Arellano, who defied a deportation order and lived in a Chicago church for a year with her US citizen son. It's called ''Sorrowful Mother.''

The exhibition runs through September 7.

15th century terracotta sculpture broken in museum

NEW YORK (Reuters)

A 15th century terracotta sculpture by Italian Renaissance artist Andrea della Robbia fell to the ground inside New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and broke into pieces, the museum said.

The piece came loose from metal mounts attached to a wall in the European Paintings and Decorative Arts Galleries section.

The sculpture of Saint Michael the Archangel shows him dressed in armour and holding a sword and scales of justice and had been hanging at the museum since 1996, the museum said.

The piece, which was 62 inches wide and 32 inches high, had its wings broken cleanly off but its face was not damaged as it had been encased in a wooden frame, said museum spokesman Harold Holzer.

Curators and conservators were assessing the damage, he said. The museum would not say how much the piece was worth.

The piece was commissioned around 1475 for the church of San Michele Arcangelo in Faenza, a small town in Italy. After passing through private collectors it was sold to the museum in 1960.