Helen Lieros (3 August 1940 – 14 July 2021), was a Zimbabwean visual artist and educator. Lieros was one of Zimbabwe's most illustrious artists and had a career that spanned across six decades.
Early life and education
She was born on 3 August 1940 in
Gweru, Zimbabwe to Greek parents. She studied at the
Ecole des Beaux-Arts and the Centre Contemporaine de la Gravure (now the ) in
Geneva, Switzerland. She also spent time at the
in
Florence, Italy.
After wandering in Europe, Lieros returned to Zimbabwe (then
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
) in 1964, and took up a position as a teacher at
Chaplin High School, where she had been a student.
Career
After teaching she moved to
Harare (then
Salisbury) in 1967, where she lived until her death. She established Gallery Delta in Harare with her husband
Derek Huggins in 1975. The independent space has been involved in the curation, organisation, presentation and promotion of approximately five-hundred exhibitions. Besides being invested in her own practice, Lieros and her husband dedicated most of their career teaching and mentoring generations of Zimbabwean painters. These include
Berry Bickle
Berry Bickle (born 1959) is a Zimbabwean artist who resides in Maputo. Born in Bulawayo, Bickle attended the Chisipite Senior School in Harare. Later, she attended the Durban Institute of Technology, where she obtained a national diploma in fi ...
, Greg Shaw,
Lovemore Kambudzi, Cosmas Shiridzinonwa, Gina Maxim,
Misheck Masamvu,
Admire Kamudzengerere, Richard Mudariki, and many others. In early 2021, Lieros was honored by the
National Arts Council of Zimbabwe as a National Merits Awards Legend.
Lieros died in 2021, aged 81, from COVID-19 during the
COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe
The COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 ().The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Zimbabwe in March 2020. Som ...
.
Solo exhibitions
* 1966 Naikes’ Gallery, Bulawayo.
* 1968 Polworth's Galleries, Harare.
* 1970 Barbour's Gallery, Harare.
* 1970 Stoa Texnis Gallery, Athens.
* 1972/75 Tara Arts & Seven Arts, Harare.
* 1973 Diogenes International Galleries, Athens.
* 1979 Exhibition, Gallery Delta, Harare.
* 1983 Selected works, PG Gallery,
National Gallery of Zimbabwe
The National Gallery of Zimbabwe (NGZ) is a gallery in Harare, Zimbabwe, dedicated to the presentation and conservation of Zimbabwe's contemporary art and visual heritage. The original National Gallery of Rhodesia was designed and directed by ...
, Harare.
* 1985 Galerie Chausse Coqs, Geneva.
* 1991 Major Retrospective Exhibition, National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare.
* 1995 ''Diary of an Inheritance'' Gallery Delta, Harare.
* 1995 ''Antithesis'', Mayfair Gallery, London.
* 1998 ''Logos – The Word'' Gallery Delta, Harare.
* 2004 Retrospective Exhibition – a selection of paintings and graphics over three decades 1974 -2004, Gallery Delta, Harare.
* 2004 ''Diaspora'' Municipal Gallery of Kallithea (Δημοτική Πινακοθήκη ΚαλλιθÎας), Greece.
* 2005 ''Aeons'' National Gallery of Zimbabwe.
* 2007 ''Antithesis'' Municipal Gallery of Kallithea, Greece.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lieros, Helen
1940 births
2021 deaths
20th-century Zimbabwean women artists
20th-century Zimbabwean artists
21st-century Zimbabwean women artists
21st-century Zimbabwean artists
People from Gweru
École des Beaux-Arts alumni
White Zimbabwean people
Zimbabwean people of Greek descent
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe