Stass Paraskos: A Celebration: at Pafos 2017 European Capital of Culture

Born in Cyprus 1933 Stass Paraskos is one of the most significant artists to have emerged from Cyprus in the twentieth century. Born into poverty, he emigrated to England in 1953, settling in the city of Leeds, where he almost accidentally ended up an art student at Leeds College of Art. Following a notorious trial, after Paraskos was arrested and charged under the Vagrancy Acts, of displaying obscene paintings, he was in high demand as a teacher at the increasingly radicalised art schools in Britain during the 1960s. But it was not only in Britain that Paraskos was making his mark. With help from the first President of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarious, and his friends in the British art word, Paraskos would found in 1969 the first art college in Cyprus, the Cyprus College of Art. In this exhibition, organised by his daughter, Margaret Paraskos, as part of the programme for Pafos 2017: European Capital of Culture, we see a wide selection of his paintings and sculptures, and in the accompanying catalogue, learn something of the life of Stass Paraskos from his son, the art historian and novelist, Michael Paraskos.

Author: Stass Paraskos, Michael Paraskos
Publisher: Orage Press
Published: 03/17/2017
Pages: 82
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.36lbs
Size: 8.50h x 8.50w x 0.17d
ISBN: 9780995713017

About the Author
Paraskos, Stass: - Born into a peasant family in Cyprus in 1933, Paraskos went to England to work as a waiter in a Greek restaurant. There he met a group of artists from Leeds College of Art who persuaded him to join their college. Paraskos never looked back, going on to be a celebrated artist and educator. He became Head of Painting at the University for Creative Arts, and founder of the Cyprus College of Art, the first art college in his homeland of Cyprus. This book places Paraskos in context and deals with major events in his life, including the notorious trial in Leeds, in 1966, when he was prosecuted for obscenity following an exhibition of his paintings. He remains to this day the only Cypriot artist to have work in London's Tate Gallery.Paraskos, Michael: - Michael Paraskos was born in Leeds in the north of England, and his first job, after leaving the misery of a secondary modern school for remedial education, was as an apprentice butcher's boy. As well as being an occasional contributor of articles to newspapers and magazines, including The Spectator and Art Review, and he is even more occasionally a contributor to radio and television programmes. He has reviewed exhibitions for Front Row on BBC Radio 4, and appeared on Ραδιοφωνικό Ίδρυμα Κύπρου, BFBS, BBC Radio Wales and BBC North, discussing topics ranging from modern art in the middle east to Yorkshire nationalism. He is author of the novel 'In Search of Sixpence', published by Friction Fiction in 2016, and his second novel, called 'Rabbitman', is due to be published by Friction Fiction in 2017.

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