Utopia

Following on from the first presentation of Nicos Chr. Pattichis collection in 2008 “Where do we go from here?” at the Municipal Arts Centre, the exhibition at the Evagoras and Kathleen Lanitis Foundation comes as a response to that question. The search which triggered the persistent where finally found its destination in utopia. This is what inspired the title (Utopia) which pursues not only the new direction in the Pattichis collection but also the concerns which preoccupy contemporary Cypriot and Greek art. Therefore, whereas the 2008 exhibit reflected the involvement of the artists and the interest of the collector in form and in representation, this new presentation of the collection, which has since been enriched with more than thirty works, registers the artists’ aim to tackle, through their art, crucial issues of the social and political reality.

Whether it be the Makarious Nisous (Blessed Isles) of ancient Greek mythology, the Ithaka of Ulysses or the elusive Utopia of  Thomas More in his book of the same name (1516), the search for utopia nearly always has an island as a destination. On its shores, philosophers, writers, poets and artists have sought the meaning of eternal happiness and a fair society. However, an island is not always a place of salvation. Robinson Crusoe managed to come ashore near Trinidad, but Ariadne was trapped in Crete and Ulysses on the island of Calypso. Cyprus has been promoted and established as the sun drenched isle of Aphrodite and often through the years been seen as a paradise lost of the West. But every utopia, even the most enduring, is defined by its failure.

It is this non-place, as suggested by the etymology of the word, this unattainable state, which is built not only of dreams but also of nightmares, mythical beasts and destruction. In Cyprus, this dystopic reality has many names: Green Line, the Cyprus issue, immigration problems, uncontrolled urbanisation, the financial crisis. Inevitably these difficulties enter the work of modern artists who at times tackle it with optimism at others with contemplation. The exhibition at the Evagoras Lanitis Foundation will seek to reveal their soul searching through the new acquisitions of the Pattichis collection.

Taking part in the exhibition in alphabetical order (surnames):  Klitsa Antoniou Nikos Charalambidis, Savvas Christodoulides, Kyriaki Costa, Eleni Economou, Peter Eramian, Elina Ioannou, Soteris Kallis, Phanos Kyriacou, Georgios Lapas, Maria Loizidou, Panayiotis Michael, Demetris Neokleous, Christodoulos Panagiotou, Vicky Perikleous, Polys Peslikas, Socratis Socratous, Constantinos Taliotis, Lefteris Tapas, Maria Toumazou, Panikos Tempriotis, Kostis Velonis, Christos Venetis and Alexandros Yiorkadjis