Art world mourns passing of Ioannis

ARTIST IOANNIS (Antoniou), who died on Thursday aged 58 following a serious health problem, was buried on Saturday in Limassol.

Ioannis was born in Famagusta in 1955 and was educated in France. He was one of the founders of the Diaspro art centre in Nicosia where he exhibited his work in the eighties. Ioannis also participated in a number of group exhibitions in Cyprus, Greece, Italy and the UK and won a prize for his work in ceramics at the Baghdad Biennale in 1989.

More work would follow over the years. He was one of the artists in the 2011 exhibition by the Evagoras and Kathleen Lanitis foundation entitled “The Object: Stories and Representations”.

The education and culture ministry expressed its “deepest sorrow” for Ioannis’ death and hailed his contribution to contemporary Cypriot art. His contribution bore the marks of influences from new realism, pop art and particularly arte povera, the announcement said.

“But he carried those influences in his own way, taking in the ordinary and the seemingly insignificant in the every day experience,” said the education ministry.

“His contribution to the cultivation of critical thinking surrounding Cyprus’ contemporary art remains invaluable,” the education ministry said.

The head of the education ministry’s cultural services was due to lay a wreath in Ioannis’ memory at his funeral in Sfalaggiotisa’s in Limassol.

 

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