THIS exhibition moves around Nicosia a lot, crossing the Green Line, so if you pay attention to where and when it takes place, you still have the chance to catch it for at least one more week, even though its shape is in the process of changing.
This nomadic tendency is reflected by the artists’ lifestyles, and it shows, although in a different way, in their art.
Farhad Nargol-O’Neill, a half-Indian, half-Irish Canadian, is an ‘outsider’ who has been regularly coming to Cyprus for the last two years. First, he appeared to paint a mural on the wall of an old building in Nicosia’s old town, then he executed a similar work in the north. Now, the British Council has brought over a series of his paintings called Impressions of the City, the result of eight years the artist spent in Belfast.
The second painter taking part needs almost no introduction as it is Jane Walker, known by many as Jane Parker, the wife of the British High Commissioner, who has been living in Cyprus for four years and participates actively in many social and cultural events happening on both sides of the barbed wire. The Parkers will be leaving the island very soon so this exhibition is, in a way, Jane’s farewell to the place that “she got very involved with”.
And the exhibition?
Well, it started early last week, in the art studio of Nicholas Panayi in the old town an exhibition of Walker’s works. Then it moved to the other side of the city, to the Eaved House, a beautiful old building very close to St Sophia cathedral, where it has evolved into a joint show by both artists. And next week it will come back to the south as a solo display of paintings by Nargol-O’Neill, close to Famagusta Gate.
This constant moving of art through the Green Line is the first, but not the only, good thing about the show. It’s a pity that more artists don’t believe their work should be shown to both communities.
It is easier to understand such an insistence when listening to Nargol-O’Neill talk about his public art philosophy.
“Public art is a very interesting genre,” the artist says. “It is funded from public money so it should speak to the people it is created for. First of all they are tax payers – they pay our wages. Secondly, we don’t live in an ivory tower, we work for the community. I do think we artists have a responsibility towards the public and have to communicate with people. I don’t believe an artist is more important than the people who view his art.”
Nargol-O’Neill’s words are confirmed by his works and especially visible in two murals he executed for Nicosia.
They are both in the old town close to the Green Line. The mural in the south, called Constructing the Past, is located close to the Technical Chamber (EDEK). It is a strong, industrial creation bringing to mind Kazimir Malevitch and Indian mandalas. The Turkish one, Ode to Aphrodite and Hala Sultana painted on one of the walls of Arabahmet Cultural Centre, is lighter, more colourful and cubist in its approach.
“The mural in the south is very similar to drawings I did when I was in India, where I studied temple design,” explains Nargol-O’Neill. “It is like a stamp of the history of the area. It is very literal as I was very aware it was the first mural in the city and I wanted to do something that people could respond to.
“There is geometry and cultural symbols incorporated in this work. The geometry is in the air view of the walled city of Nicosia but it also symbolises a kind of a compass — starting from its bottom, one can see the symbols of all ancient cultures present in the city: Egyptian, Persian, Phoenician, Syrian, Anatolian, Roman, of course, Byzantine and Hellenistic.”
The Arabahmet mural however, says the artist, has been created under influence of Marc Chagall, Greek mythology and Islamic history.
“I wanted to do something related to Cyprus history again and also representing the two communities. As usual, I did a lot of research before starting. One day, I looked at this painting by Chagall showing hermaphroditic Adam and Eve coming out from one body and it clicked. I decided to use the idea of two centre figures but instead of making them male and female I opted for two figures that represent two different cultures, Hellenistic and Eastern. I have chosen Aphrodite, the goddess of love whose origins are in Cyprus, for one side and Hala Sultan, the maternal aunt of prophet Mohamed, the woman who brought Islam to the island, for the other.”
Nargoll-O’Neill’s approach to art is intellectual and based on hundreds historic, social and cultural references he finds while doing his researches.
He is also extremely aware of the space where his art is located.
“I am very place-conscious,” he says. “I love making public pieces of art that speak to people and I have developed my own language which revolves around visual symbols and the places where you put them. The message should come directly from the community where the work is placed.”
It is actually a gender that he does almost exclusively. His sculptures and paintings can be found in Jordan, the US, Canada, all over Northern Ireland, and, of course, Cyprus.
Nargoll-O’Neill’s confession transfers the whole conversation to the other artist who has opposite views.
“My works are not about being affected by a place,” says Walker. “In fact, they are just the opposite. They are about not being affected. The artist who influenced me a lot, was an Austrian Jew. He (because of fascism) lived for many years in the UK. Once he had an exhibition called Landscape of Exile that consisted of 200 small paintings. He did them so small so he could put them into a suitcase and just go away if he had to for any political reasons. I am in a very different situation but I still have to move from place to place and have this sort of gypsy life that leads me towards small format and intimate subject matter.”
“When I go from here I can complete all what I am doing without any distraction because there is no sense of place in my works,” she continues. “I am interested in putting my figures in space in terms of composition but not where it really is. Such an approach suits me very well because I do have a problem with being uprooted and because it is usually not my choice to do so. I have been carried and placed against my will quite often. This is a consolation that enables me to go on being myself.”
Walker’s works are mostly small, Egon Schiele-like, beautifully-executed ink drawings full of eroticism and personal emotions which put them in direct contrast with the huge colourful paintings done by Nargol-O’Neill. The Briton seems to focus on an individual and his or her relationship with another person. Why does she do it?
“It is because of my lifestyle,” she answers. “The sources of my work have to be constant in my life and the human figure, the human emotional and sensual life are the same everywhere. Emotions and feelings between two people that I want to express are the same wherever I go. And putting two persons together is much more gripping. I am just not interested in putting just one single nude on the paper any more. I don’t do it, full stop.”
Besides, Walker admits, she has moved away from observational drawing a while ago and now is more into creating her own figures.
“A year or two years ago I started to find out that I can make my own figures and that gave me a kind of freedom. I can think about how to express relationships and use other media close to drawing. You see I feel I am closer to Brussels school of art (where she got her diploma from) idea of creating your own hand writing and trying to find your own language from within. They believe in creating pictures yourself there. They tell you to look hard into yourself to find a solution to whatever you want to achieve. So I appreci
ate them because it is a right way for me.”
This is probably one of the main platforms where the two artists communicate as Nargol-O’Neill says something very similar: “There comes a time in the life of every artist when he has to shut the door on all the influences he has had and create his own language. It doesn’t mean you are not open to a new experience but you have to shut the door, kick everyone out of your house and work.”
But asked if it is the only similarity between him and Walker, the Canadian disagrees.
“The series of paintings I am exhibiting here I created about Belfast after leaving it,” he says. “And Jane has worked in Cyprus. We both created in places that are divided. I think our exhibition shows two totally different responses to the same situation. All the touchstones in our works are the same, but the visual effect is different.”
One of theories of world creation says that at the origin of everything was thought — this is exactly where the two artists meet each other.
Opposites Attract. Works by Jane Parker and Frahad Nargol-O’Neill at the Sacakli Ev (The Eaved House), north Nicosia. Until May 3. Visiting hours: 10am-1pm and 2-5pm.
Images of City. Works by Farhad Nargol-O’Neill. 12 Minoos Street, Nicosia. Opening: May 4, 6.30-9pm. Until May 7. Visiting hours: Thursday and Friday: 10am-1pm and 3-8pm, Saturday: 10am-3pm.
