Sotiris Ioannou

Kypriaki Gonia Gallery presents a painting exhibition by Sotiris Ioannou.

The Exhibition will be opened by Mr. Kyriakos Kyriakou the Head of Public Relations of Cyprus Airways, on March 3 at 19:30

Sotiris Ioannou was born in Dherynia, Cyprus in 1952. In the late fifties he emigrated with his family to England.

During his Secondary school years he was awarded a number of prizes for his art work by the local municipal council.

On leaving school in 1972 he attended The Camberwell School of Art & Crafts in London to study Ceramics.

He attended Camberwell between 1972 / 1976 where he attained a 2/2 in Three Dimensional Design (Ceramics).

After graduation he set up a pottery studio with other potters in South London where he continued to work, using, as his inspiration, pre-classical Cypriot pottery, which continues to influence him.

During the early years he found that his work, influenced by pre-classical Cypriot as well as primitive Middle and near East pottery was restrictive and would not allow him to fully express himself. He tried experimenting with other mediums such as Perspex and glass, but found they were in many ways as restrictive as clay due to their solid state. He found that by using solid mediums as the ‘canvas’ it was not always possible to show how colour shapes the environment in the way that paint does, as these mediums were too solid as base materials. They did not have the fluidity of paint. They would not or could not allow the liquidity of movement in the same way that paint can and does.

He found that his interest in colour and the shape that colour has on the environment, plus the restrictive nature of clay and other solids meant he was beginning to use paint more and more as a means of expression more so than the use of other mediums.

Sotiris gradually went away from ceramics as a medium of expression and began exclusively using paint to create his works.

During the 1970s’ and 1980s’ he had a number of exhibitions in London and the midlands, exhibiting both ceramic works and paintings.

He also has some of his work in permanent private exhibitions of modern art in England.

During the late 1980s’ he gradually stopped showing his work in public exhibitions and only worked on private commissions due to his increasing commitments in teaching art and the growth of his Interior Design business.

In the mid 2000s’ he decided to come back to Cyprus, to return to his roots. Since his return he has opened a private school, where he teaches art, and has also been painting fulltime.

Opening Hours
10:00 - 13:00 & 16:30 - 20:00