To mark 50 years since the Turkish invasion, the AG Leventis Gallery presents the event and its consequences through the eyes of Cypriot artist Telemachos Kanthos (1910-1993) with a new exhibition this winter. With a focus on two popular and seemingly unrelated subjects in the artist’s oeuvre – the Women’s Bazaar and the Hard Years series – the exhibition hopes to present fresh perspectives and narratives of Cyprus and its people’s complex history.
Titled Kanthos – The Sharp Edges of History, the exhibition will run from November 23 to March 9. The artworks to go on show, which span from the 1940s until the early 1990s, reveal the artist’s ongoing concern with social, political and historical events and changes taking place around him. They reflect a deep love of his country and its people, seen through a sensitive and revealing eye. There is a serenity and peaceful cohabitation of a multicultural community in the Women’s Bazaar series, juxtaposed and interspersed with the works of the Hard Years series, a nuanced response to the realities of conflict and war.
The exhibition aims to flesh out an image of an artist effectively engaged in the world around him, with a focus on the historical realities of the island during the period in which he was working. It is hoped, in this way, to open up space for questions with regard to how we comprehend history and what the role of art is, or could be, in that understanding. The exhibition aspires to motivate the viewer to contemplate afresh a topic that many feel they already know.
Also running at the same time is the parallel exhibition Reflections, a showcase which is the outcome of the recent Call for Art – Contemporary Art Competition held by the gallery. Cypriot artists were asked to propose works of art (completed or new ideas) reflecting on or marked by the historical and cultural memory of the tragic events in Cyprus’ colonial and post-colonial history that led to the division of the island.
The artworks are interspersed within the existing museum narrative and are juxtaposed with the Kanthos temporary exhibition.
It is hoped that this contemporary art exhibition will inspire viewers to reflect on what they think they know and encourage them to open themselves up to considering renewed experiences of history and identity.
Kanthos – The Sharp Edges of History
New temporary exhibition. November 23-March 9. A.G. Leventis Gallery, Nicosia. Tel: 22-668838
