ARTS PAGE            

 
Young Greek Engravers 2005-2006
 

The chamber of  Fine Arts, EKATE is hosting the Young  Engravers 2005 -2006 exhibition on December 6 -17 at the Evagoras Lanitis Centre, Limassol.
It was originally organized in Athens by the Etaireia Eikastikon Technon  ‘A. Tassos,’ aiming at presenting the new tendencies in the art of engraving.
This tri-annual event, which was first organised in 1991, has come to be regarded as a very important institution. It has always been supported by the Cypriot government, and it is now being promoted by the Cultural Services of the Ministry of Education and Culture of Cyprus.
By selecting the best work among contemporary techniques in engraving this exhibition has been touring around the largest Greek cities for the past two years, ensuring that the work of new Greek engravers is widely seen by the public. This is the fourth time it is taking place
The exhibition consists of works created by 22  engravers, including two Cypriot artists – Kyriakos Pastides and Panayiotis Panayi. This new generation of artists represents the new tendencies and techniques in engraving, such as, mixed media and multicolour printing, and have been exploring the potential of, and new avenues opened by computerized media.
Traditional engraving – on  wood, copper, and stone – has been on the retreat, a phenomenon observed not only in Greece but also worldwide.
"We have refrained from any form of guiding the work of new artists. We neither support nor exclude any particular technique or tendency. We do not control freedom of expression in Art! The only inviolable rule is the presence of quality!" This is how the president of the Etaireia, Kostas Nitsos, begins his introduction to the illustrated catalogue that accompanies the exhibition.
Nitsos will be addressing the public on the opening of the exhibition, and representatives from Eikastiki Etaireia ‘A. Tassos’ will also be present. Furthermore, two distinguished Cypriot engravers, Evgenia Vasiloudi and Hambis Tsangaris will give lectures encouraging the revival of interest, and the promotion of the art of engraving.

EXHIBITION PROGRAMME
Thursday December 7th, 19.00
The exhibition will be opened by Dr.Eleni Nikita, on behalf of the Cultural Services of the Ministry of Education and Culture.
There will be a speech by  Kostas Nitsos, the President of the Etaireia ‘A. Tassos’, followed by a lecture entitled "From wood carving to new carving techniques", by Evgenia Vasiloudi.
A reception will follow
Thursday, December 14t, 19.30
Lecture by Hambis Tsangaris entitled "The marriage of carving to naOve culture". A documentary on the work of the artist will follow entitled "Hambis’ Fairytales".
A documentary film on the life and work of the famous Greek engraver A. Tassos will be shown during the exhibition.

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Christmas preview

It’s a bit early but here is a section of an intriguing bit of info from the Cyprus College of Art at Lemba
Stass Paraskos founded the Cyprus College of Art in 1969 and over the years it has become renown as a unique educational and cultural experience.
Originating in Famagusta, the college shifted location and has now expanded to two studios retrospectively in the heart of Limassol, and in the village of Lemba, near Paphos. The Great Wall of Lemba, a collaboration of past and present student’s work, has become a well known artistic inspiration and tourist attraction.
"The recent electric storms and torrential rain has caused havoc in many places throughout Cyprus and the College of Art in Lempa has been no exception. With the heavy rain finding the way through crevices and cracks in the roof and streams wending their way through the studios, students had first hand knowledge of what it is like to work in the varied environment of this Mediterranean country. 
The contingency in this year’s Fine Art Postgraduate Diploma have come from the far and wide: the United Kingdom, Ireland, America, Canada, Poland, Finland and Germany All are studying for eight months in this unconventional yet individual and inspirational college. The students aim is to soak up the atmosphere of Cyprus and they have certainly experienced a myriad of weather conditions in their first month".
More later on the Christmas Exhibition at Cyprus College of Art 14 December 2006  at 7 pm. until January 6 2007

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Pharos Centre of Contemporary Art

Cypriot artist Haris Epaminonda and German artist Daniel Gustav Cramer have presented their first joint exhibition at the Pharos Centre for Contemporary Art and it will continue until 6 February.
Pharos Centre for Contemporary Art is hosting the exhibition of these two exciting emerging artists who have never formally worked together, but have yet maintained an exploratory open dialogue investigating issues – connections and dualisms – that arise from their individual practices.
The two artists first met at the Royal College of Art, London, where they both took their MA in 2003. Their careers also have Cyprus as a connecting point:  Haris Epaminonda grew up in Nicosia and currently lives and works in Nicosia and London, while Daniel Gustav Cramer, based in Berlin and London, has previously worked extensively in Cyprus while completing his work Trilogy.

At the Pharos Centre for Contemporary Art, Epaminonda will show a series from  collages and a video, based on  personal archives of found imagery.
This work has marked the beginning of an ongoing project where the artist collects and reassembles both found images and footage, thus the use of various forms of collage, video, books ,etc informing the work. Cramer will be showing photographic work from his ongoing work Trilogy (Woodland, Underwater, Mountain), a work which has, over the past four years, developed into an archive of images of the world bereft of any human presence.
 
Pharos Centre of Contemporary Art will be publishing a fully illustrated catalogue which will also document this exhibition, including an essay specially commissioned by  Dr Jonathan Miles, designed by Herman Lelie.

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   New exhibitions

Michella Psara at Argo

A complete calmness fills the Argo space. The pictures may have a subject but really it doesn’t matter as they are sublime abstracts and stand for and as themselves. One shake or tremor and the whole lot of beautiful paintings would soon return and restore us to calm again. These are very necessary works. Especially now.
At a time when calamitous environments push our nervous minds towards a noisy expressionism here comes an array of paintings which restore our faith in silence. It is the diligent care with various media which also impresses. Various  things: tissue used for fibreglass  (rather like horse hair or cobwebs which you feel could flutter so very softly in the breeze), wax,.the thinnest of darkened thread, cardboard,  knobbles of paint a bit like sago floating in milk. A little colour exactly in the right place, and, most importantly the right density for the whole wonder.
 Secure, timeless and of course extremely beautiful.

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Argyris Constantinou at Gloria Gallery

A welcome return. The artist has somewhat changed his themes and style. Now in full colour but painted with meticulous care.
 Paint areas float into the next one around  with subtle sensitivity.  The shoppers in the market  are engrossed in  the beauty of vegetables, fruit and their own garments  passing through an amazing amount of gorgeous colour that one fears we will lose when supermarkets conquer these harmonious  open air market days; which I’m afraid they will. But these shoppers still have a tranquil beauty surrounded by living things,. Look closely at the women’s faces. They resemble and appear like icons amidst the fruits of the earth.

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Baraka  Akamantis

Panos Tsringas  shows at10 Egypt Street near Paphos Gate
This delightful, airy and  beautifully lit (by daylight or lamp ) space which  is part of Pyrgos Congress Ltd has been most carefully hung with some superb "paintings" by Panos Tsringas a young artist from Greece. The pictures actually veer to collage. The artist can apply bits of burlap stuck on canvas to portray some excellent ‘portraits’.
Even better is when he chooses one interest and surrounds it with old (found, I presume) wooden boards. One wonderful example is "Trophy" in which real horns with a wooden animal (?) head fits into and conquers its visual and tactile environment. 
Pieces of sacking (burlap) can have been saturated in oil colour and given a superb density which when "fronted" by a painted figure and backed by rough timber can be quite brilliant. Moving and spatially disturbing.                      
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Uri Geller atGallery k
Missed the spoons in action but just caught the art objects before they were packed away. Loved the lot. Exquisite, desirable.  If there are any still left during the seasonal change over -- buy.

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The Brave Little Tailor           

How the children love it on these Sunday mornings. Gathered every week at the Satyrico Theatre, Strovolos, Nicosia, they have come to enjoy Heinz-Uwe Haus play of the well-loved tale by the Brothers Grimm.  Xenia Michael makes a wonderful Tailor. Her speaking voice is very musical and she (as he) sings wonderfully too while her movements are direct and clear It soon becomes obvious that Haus is as at home writing plays as he is at directing them. The revolving stage is used – as it was in his memorable  "Mother Courage" and its is reassuring to know that the sensitive director of this play, Marianne Kafkaridou, is the daughter of the actress (Despina Bembidelli) who played that famous role (with Uwe directing)  here in Cyprus and in Greece a couple of decades ago.
The design and costumes by Loizos Loizou are rich in atmosphere and detail. The Tailor moves from place to place with ease and able young actors pop up all over the places in the story. Happy, evocative music is by Andreas Georgallides.
Congratulations  Hainz –Uwe Haus, the Cyprus Theatre is still yours.