The week ahead is paved with a number of artists ready to get their creative work on show. Starting on Monday, artist Les Palin will present a collection of his paintings and sculptures at Diachroniki Gallery in Nicosia and as of Tuesday artist Kaludios will showcase his latest paintings at the French Institute, also in the capital.
Born to British parents in India, Palin studied the drawings of the Renaissance and the paintings of Dutch and North Western artists, including Rembrandt, Schiele, Klimt and Reubens. The influences of these artists are clear in Palin’s drawings and paintings.
One of the main subjects he concentrates on is the female form. The rhythms and sheer beauty that he brings to the women he portrays, has immortalised them and captured their image for generations to come. The other subject he focuses on is landscape. With his watercolour paintings he evokes the atmosphere of the environment he has captured.
When it comes to his sculptures, Palin’s material of choice is bonze. Some of his work can be compared to those of Degas, and it is plain to see that whether he is moulding the form of a boy playing the cello, or a daughter reaching for her mother’s hand, Palin represents the human experience in his work.
The Greek artist Klaudios has a very different approach and artistic vision to Palin. As suggested by the title of his upcoming exhibition – Dialogues with Picasso – Kaludios has a much more abstract relationship with his creative process.
Very much like Picasso, Kaludios demonstrated extraordinary artistic talent in his early years and was considered to be a child prodigy. He loved to draw and paint and experiment with any medium he could get his hands on. As a child, he would go missing for hours, only to be found hours later painting and drawing on a butcher’s block using wrapping paper.
Although he also showed a talent for music, his passion for art won over and he won a state scholarship and graduated with distinction from the Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm, Sweden in 1983.
He has lived and worked in Sweden, Germany, Greece, France, Captiva Islands in the Gulf of Mexico and in Cyprus. Kaludios has exhibited his work in Stockholm, Athens, Moscow, Hamburg and Miami.
His popularity as an artist is reflected in the amount of celebrities who have attended his exhibitions, including Vladimir Putin, Helmut Schmidt, Eleni Menegaki, Liz Taylor, Jack Nicholson, Julio Iglesias, Marios Frangoulis and others.
Kaludios will be at the exhibition on Fridays and Saturdays while the exhibition is running to talk with visitors. Also on May 19 there will be a charity auction of selected pieces.
On the last day of the exhibition, May 24, there will be a closing party at 7pm, during which there will be lots of music and a surprise live appearance.
Solo Painting and Sculpture Exhibition
Solo exhibition by Les Palin. Opens May 9 at 7.30pm until May 30. Diachroniki Gallery Ledras, 84 Arsinoes Street, Nicosia. Open daily: 10am-7pm except Sundays. Tel: 22-680145
Dialogues with Picasso
Solo paining exhibition by Kaludios. Opens May 10 at 7pm until May 25. French Institute Cyprus, 59, Strovolos Avenue, Strovolos, Nicosia. Monday- Thursday: 10am-6.30pm and Friday-Saturday: 10am-9.30pm. Tel: 22-459300
