A12 Cypriot artists EN

1. A project made by the students
of the fourth grade
Teachers:
Rodoula Georgiou & Miranda Pasialounda
Chryseleousa Primary School
May 2017

2. 1
Stelios Votsis
Stelios Votsis (1929 – 2012) was a Cypriot and
Britishartist,one of the leadingfiguresof modern
art on the island, a co-founder of the Cyprus
Chamber of Fine Arts and its one-time president.
His style was best characterised as ‘structural
abstraction’.
Born in Larnaca in 1929, he demonstrated an
aptitude for painting early on and staged
exhibitionswhilestilla high-school student at the
Pancypriot Commercial School. Upon graduation,
he travelledtopost-warEnglandin1949 to pursue hisdreamof studyingart.Hisstudies took him to
Saint Martin's School of Art, Sir John Cass College, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and the Slade
School of Art. In his second year at the Slade, he won first prize in a university-wide drawing
competitionbutdeclinedthe prize,explainingthathe didnotdeemhiswork deserving. Those same
exactingstandardsleadhimtodestroyalmostall the paintingshe producedduringthisperiod.After
enduring financial hardship and even a bout of tuberculosis, he graduated from the Slade in 1955.
He returned to Cyprus the same year and co-founded the Cyprus Chamber of Fine Arts. Together
witha numberof otherpioneeringartistshe wasinstrumental in introducing modern art to Cyprus.
He represented the island nation on the international stage in various
exhibitions including:
 The Venice Biennale
 The Biennale of Alexandria
 The Triennale of India
 The Sao Paolo Biennial
 The Biennial of Graphic Arts in Buenos Aires-Argentina
 The International Exhibition of New Artists in New York
 The International Biennial of Graphic Arts in Fredrikstad Norway
 The International Exhibition of Graphic Arts in Frechen Germany
 The International Exhibition of Graphic Arts in Pennsylvania
 The Brussels Biennale
His paintings can be found in a number of collections including the
National Gallery of Greece, the Greek Ministry of Culture, the Vorres
Museum,the Presidential Palace of Cyprus and other public and private
collections in Cyprus, Greece and beyond. Notable among the work
completed prior to his death is his collaboration with the artist Stass
Paraskos.Some of the jointworks of the two artists were put on display
inNicosia 2007, in an exhibition inaugurated by the British art historian
NorbertLynton. Votsiswasawardedthe Ruskinprize in drawing and the
bronze medal inthe Europeanprize forpainting contest which was held
inOstend-Belgiumin1973. For hiscontributionstothe culture of Cyprus
he was awardedan Annual Honorary Grant by the Ministry of Education
and Culture of the Republic of Cyprus.

3. 2
AdamantiosDiamantis
(1900 – 1994) studiedpaintinginLondoninSt.Martin's School of
Art (1920 - 1921) and the Royal College of Art (1921 - 1923). He
presented his work in Cyprus and abroad, Athens, London,
Edinburghetc.In May 1957 he organizesthe first solo exhibition
at "Ledra Palace" with works of the period 1922 - 1953. The
reportnotesunprecedentedsuccess and is the biggest art event
experiencedbythen inCyprus. The exhibition was visited by ten
thousand people. In December 1976 the National Gallery of
Greece presents a retrospective exhibition of his works and the
Athens Academy awards him "for the remarkable artistic work
and servicesrenderedtohishomeland.He wasalsohonoured by
the University of Athens in 1989 and 1993.
AdamantiosDiamantiswasmainlyinspiredbynature.Hismostdistinguished painting is «The world
of Cyprus».Itisa monumental workconsistingof 11 panels(17.5 m long) and was created in Cyprus
between 1967 and 1972. Adamantios Diamantis (1900-1994), who was an art teacher in many
secondaryschoolsandalsoDirectorof the FolkArt Museum, travelled across the island and studied
the people andtheirlives.He triedtodepictthe simplicityof life,the valuesof the patriarchal family,
the place of women in the home and in society in general, the importance of family and all the
beliefs that comprised Cypriot society of the 1970s. The painting of this monumental work
comprising altogether 67 figures, took him five years. He used the sketches he has done on his
travels; people of a village, sitting and standing in a village square, with village and landscape
painted in the background.

4. 3
Michael Kashialos
KyriakosMichael Kashialoswasborninoccupied Asia in 1885. One of
the most important Cypriot self-taught naive artists, he is the
youngestsonof the naive painterMichael Hr.Kashialos.He graduated
fromthe primaryschool of hisvillage,wherehe wasunderthe tuition
of the artistKyriakosPierides. He dealtwithvariousprofessions such
as Carpenter,ClearingAgent,Ceramist.Duringhislife,he wasmarried
six times and had six children. In August 1974 he was arrested and
tortured by the Turkish army. He died a few days later, on the 30th
of
August, in Larnaca.
He began to paint in 1967, when he was 75 years old, after watching
the artistic activity of his father and accompanying him in his various
exhibitions. He has also taken part in many group-exhibitions in
Cyprus and abroad. He was awarded in 1969 the second prize in
Bratislava Triennale and he was also honoured in 1974, after his death, by the Art Academy of
Athens. His work can be found in private collections, in the Pieridis Institution, the Ethnographic
Museum of Avgorou and the Pieridis Art gallery in Athens.
Michael Kashialos΄sworkisconsideredaverysignifigantpartof the historyof art, worldwide,andhe
is certainly one of Europe΄s most important naïve artists.

5. 4
Chambis Tsangaris
Hambis was born in Kontea in 1947. He took his first
printmakinglessonsfromA.Tassos in Athens in 1971. He
studied Graphic Arts at Surikov Art Institute in Moscow
(1976-1982).He has set as the main objective of his art,
whichhe alwaysfollowsfaithfully, the expression of his
country,itshistory,torments,joys,beauty,and folklore.
He illustratedandpublishedthe followingbooks:
 Spanosand the FortyDragons
 The Prince of Venice
 Hambis– 25 Yearsof Printmaking
 The FeyEnchantress
 The Kalikangiari andthe Game
 Kalikangiari –CypriotTales
 Kalikangiari –Talesinthe Cypriotdialect
 The Tripletsandthe Dragon of the Apple Tree
He exhibited his work in solo exhibitions, in Cyprus, Moscow, Titograd, Athens, Kozani, Ljubljana,
London, Paris, Nancy, Edinbourgh, Mexico City, New York. He gave lectures on printmaking at
Universitiesof Cyprus,USA,Mexico,Greece,atCultural CentersandmanyvillagesinCyprus.He took
part inmany groupexhibitions,Biennale and Triennale: Alexandria, Brisbane, Ljubljana, Marseille,
Sloveni Grates, Cairo, Berlin, Bratislava, Chamalières.
Awards:Mention Honourable at the Bratislava Biennale of Illustrations (BIB), Certificate of Honour
for Illustration from the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY). White Raven 2016,
fromthe International YouthLibraryinMunichforhisbookThe Tripletsandthe Dragon of the Apple
Tree, 2015. The White Ravens catalogue contains 200 titles in 42 languages from 60 countries. Four
State Awards for Illustration and one State Award for Essay in Cyprus. Award Tefkros Anthias-
Thodosis Pierides for cultural contribution by the Central Committee of A.K.E.L. He has works at
Pushkin Museum in Moscow, in Art Museums and Foundations, public and private collections in
several countries. He taught graphic
arts in the State Education of Cyprus
from 1987 until 2008.
In 1995 he founded the Hambis
Printmaking School. Every year, since
1995, he offers free lessons of
printmaking, with a group of teachers,
inmemoryof his greattutor, A. Tassos.
In 2008 he founded the Hambis
PrintmakingMuseum,whosecollection
includes prints from the 16th century
until today, from all over the world.

6. 5
Costas Economou
CostasEconomouwas born in Kissonerga in
1925. He took his first art lessons at the
Morphou College under the tuiton of the
teacher A. Diamantis. He continued his
studies at King Alfred's College (1956-1957
Winchester,England),where he studied art
and pedagogy in the Art Department of the
Institute of Education of the University of
London (1972-1973). At the same time he
attended painting lessons at Saint Martin's
School of Art in London.
He worked as a teacher, professor and supervisor of art, in primary education, for forty years. He
presentedhisworkthroughtwentysoloexhibitionsandhe hastakenpart in manygroup exhibitions
in Cyprus, Greece, and as a representative of contemporary Cypriot art in many foreign countries
(France,Russia,Greece, India, Cuba, Australia. etc.). He showed interest in the cultural and artistic
movementsinCyprus,asa memberandparticipatingonboardsfor many organizations (Pancyprian
Union Filotechnon, E.KA.TE., Gonia Filotechnon Paphos, THOK, Association of Environmental
Protection, Committee of Antiquities, etc.). He was awarded the annual prize of POED and in 2012
he was awarded the Tefkros Anthias - Thodosis Pierides award.
Although the main medium in his art is painting and particularly watercolor, Costas Economou
experimentedwithprintmakingandwithcementography,atechnique thathe learnedfromhisclose
friend Christoforos Savva and that he still works with to this day.

7. 6
Valentinos Charalambous
Born in 1929 into a family of traditional
potters of Famagusta, Valentinos studied at
the Central School of Arts and Crafts in
London. After he obtained the Central
School'sdiploma(withDistinction) he worked
there as a technical assistant, and then spent
a year working in the LEACH Pottery (1950-
51).
In 1952 he returned to Cyprus to work with
his father, and in 1957 was asked by the
Ministryof Educationof Iraq toundertake the establishment of the Department of Ceramics of the
Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad. In 1960 he was assigned to establish a similar department at the
'Tahrir' GirlsCollege,Baghdad,andin1967 he joinedthe newlyestablished Academy of Fine Arts of
the Universityof Baghdadwhere he became the headof the Department of Ceramics, a position he
held until his retirement in 1983, when he returned to Cyprus.
He remains in close contact with Baghdad and in 1987 the Iraqi Government honoured him for his
contribution to the development of Iraqi art both as a teacher and an artist. Valentinos still works
withthe Cultural Servicesof the Ministry of Education and Culture assigned to the development of
the Cyprus-Arab cultural relations.