The Arts - Cyprus - page 499

Fresco in Panagia tou Araka
De Agostini / getty IMAGES ©
20th- to 21st-Century Painting & Sculpture
In the 1950s artists began to return to Cyprus after studying abroad. Important artists who
emerged during this period include Christofors Savva (1924−68), who was strongly influ-
enced by the cubist and expressionist movements, and abstract artists Costas Joachim
(1936−), Nicos Kouroussis (1937−) and Andreas Ladommatos (1940−).
The 1974 division of the island had a significant influence on trends in art, with a rise
in symbolism and subject matter that reflected the spiritual anguish of the time. Important
artists from this period include Angelos Makrides (1942−), who represented Cyprus in the
1988 Venice Biennale, and Emin Chizenel (1949−), a Fulbright scholar and Turkish Cyp-
riot who has exhibited both sides of the divide.
Female artist Haris Epaminonda was born in Nicosia in 1980 and is known for her col-
lages, installations and videos, while Turkish Cypriot Mustafa Hulusi had a solo show at
London's Tate Modern in 2010 and contributed to the Terra Mediterranea In Crisis exhib-
ition at the Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre in Nicosia in 2012.
In 2014 the AG Leventis Gallery opened in Nicosia with a collection that includes
some of the island's most iconic contemporary artworks. At its heart is the monumental
work by the famous late Cypriot painter Adamantios Diamanis, The World of Cyprus,
based on 75 drawings depicting the landscape and people of the island. Another art mu-
seum that provides an excellent insight into Cypriot art is the State Gallery of Cypriot
Contemporary Art, also located in Nicosia.
Icons
Although some Cypriot churches and several museums still house magnificent Byzantine
icons, many have been looted and their treasures sold on the open market. These are often
unwittingly bought by collectors and, occasionally, celebrities. Singer Boy George had an
icon of Jesus Christ hung proudly over his fireplace for decades before it was spotted by
an expert during a televised interview. The icon was duly returned to the Church of St
Charalambos in Chorio Kythrea in 2011, from where it had been stolen in 1974.
Icons are still being produced in many monasteries today. The most justifiably famous
contemporary icon painter is Father Kallinikos Stavrovounis, the aged priest of Stavro-
vouni Monastery , situated between the cities of Nicosia and Lemesos. The money he re-
ceives is used for the upkeep of Stavrovouni and other monasteries.