The imagination builds other worlds

Artists Anna Georghiou and Phil Bird will take us away to their fantasy worlds with their joint exhibition ‘Spirit and Imagination’, which will open tomorrow in Larnaca.

Georghiou and Bird both have strong connections with the Cyprus art scene and spend their time between Cyprus, UK and Catalonia. They both taught at the Cyprus College of Art for five years. As well as pairing up to display their art, they are also a musical duo named Troubadour’s Garden.

For Georgiou, this exhibition is dedicated to the memory of her mother Maria. Speaking about her paintings, she said: “My new paintings are inspired by the magic and majesty of Cyprus, Catalonia and Dartmoor. The worlds which lie beneath the veil, waiting for us all to see and be part of, if we choose to.”

Viewers will see groups of figures in timeless settings that represent possible other worlds. These worlds embrace imagination and spirit and also, in a way, reflect Georghiou’s realisation (or hope) that there is a way in which we can all live together.

“As an artist, I do not create visual works which make negative statements about the current state of our world and time. As a painter, I resist being drawn into the culture of fear and negativity that is dominant all around us and constantly fed to us through mainstream media. Instead my work visualises a beauty and Spirit, an honesty and simplicity, showing our human potential to nurture, grow and be kind,” the artist said.

Bird’s paintings invite the viewer to weave creative narratives from the exotic tableaux which he presents. His work celebrates the power of our intuitive imagination, revealing other worlds that go beyond our everyday lives to reach the soul.

These dramatic visual stories are full of light and dark themes, which Bird hopes we will unfold in ways which are meaningful to us. “There are no right or wrong readings. They are like oracles, and also like mirrors in which we can both lose and rediscover ourselves,” the artist said.

Spirit and Imagination
Painting exhibition by Anna Georghiou and Phil Bird. Opens April 27 at 7.30pm until May 6. Gallery Kypriaki Gonia, 45 Stadiou Street, Larnaca. Monday-Saturday: 10am-1pm & 4.30pm-8pm. Sunday:11am-2pm & 4pm-7pm. Tel: 24-621109

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