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Stass Paraskos ( el, Στας Παράσκος; 17 March 1933 – 4 March 2014) was an artist from
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
, although much of his life was spent teaching and working in England.


Early life

Paraskos was born in Anaphotia, a village near the city of
Larnaca Larnaca ( el, Λάρνακα ; tr, Larnaka) is a city on the south east coast of Cyprus and the capital of the district of the same name. It is the third-largest city in the country, after Nicosia and Limassol, with a metro population of 144 ...
,
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
in 1933, the second of six sons of an impoverished peasant farmer. He went to England in 1953, working first as a pot washer and waiter in the ABC Tearoom in London's
Tottenham Court Road Tottenham Court Road (occasionally abbreviated as TCR) is a major road in Central London, almost entirely within the London Borough of Camden. The road runs from Euston Road in the north to St Giles Circus in the south; Tottenham Court Road t ...
, and then moving to the city of
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
, in the north of England to become a cook in his brother's newly opened Greek restaurant. The restaurant became a popular haunt of the local art students who encouraged Paraskos to enrol for classes at
Leeds College of Art Leeds Arts University is a specialist arts further and higher education institution, based in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, with a main campus opposite the University of Leeds. History It was founded in 1846 as the Leeds Scho ...
(later
Leeds Arts University Leeds Arts University is a specialist arts further and higher education institution, based in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, with a main campus opposite the University of Leeds. History It was founded in 1846 as the Leeds Scho ...
). Despite not having the usual entry qualifications to start a college course, Paraskos was spotted by the college's inspirational Head of Fine Art,
Harry Thubron Harry Thubron OBE (Henry James Thubron, 1915–1985) was an English artist and art teacher. He made radical innovations in art education which are still controversial today. Life Thubron was born on 24 November 1915 at 7 Victoria Avenue, B ...
, who allowed Paraskos to enrol without the usual entry requirements. There he became close friends with artists such as
Dennis Creffield Dennis Creffield (29 January 1931 – 26 June 2018) was a British artist with work owned by major British and worldwide art collections, including the Tate Gallery, The British Museum, Arts Council of England, the Government Art Collection, The L ...
,
Terry Frost Sir Terence Ernest Manitou Frost RA (13 October 1915 – 1 September 2003) was a British abstract artist, who worked in Newlyn, Cornwall. Frost was renowned for his use of the Cornish light, colour and shape to start a new art movement in ...
and
Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Order of the British Empire, CBE (8 June 1912 – 26 January 2004) was one of the foremost British Abstract art, abstract artists, a member of the influential Penwith Society of Arts. Early life Wilhelmina Barns-Graha ...
, with Frost and Barns-Graham persuading Paraskos to move to St Ives in Cornwall in 1959. In St Ives Paraskos shared a studio with Barns-Graham until he returned to Leeds in 1961 and began teaching at
Leeds College of Art Leeds Arts University is a specialist arts further and higher education institution, based in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, with a main campus opposite the University of Leeds. History It was founded in 1846 as the Leeds Scho ...
.


Obscenity Trial

In 1966 Paraskos was involved in a notorious court case, which became known as the Stass Paraskos Obscenity Trial, in which it was alleged he displayed paintings that were 'lewd and obscene', in contravention of the Vagrancy Act 1838. The court case was one of a number of important legal challenges to the freedom of the arts in the 1960s and 70s, starting with the Lady Chatterley trial in 1960, and ending with the '' Oz'' magazine trial in 1971. Despite luminaries of the art world speaking in Paraskos's defence, including Sir
Herbert Read Sir Herbert Edward Read, (; 4 December 1893 – 12 June 1968) was an English art historian, poet, literary critic and philosopher, best known for numerous books on art, which included influential volumes on the role of art in education. Read ...
and
Norbert Lynton Norbert Casper Lynton (22 September 1927 – 30 October 2007, Brighton, England ) was Professor of the History of Art at the University of Sussex. From 1998 - 2006 he was Chairman of the Charleston Trust. He has published on architecture ...
, and messages of support from Britain's Home Secretary Roy Jenkins, Paraskos lost the trial and was fined five pounds. The curator of a retrospective exhibition of Paraskos's work held in
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
in 2009, Terence Jones, was quoted as saying: "Ironically the painting in question now hangs in the Tate. When you see it, you do wonder what all the fuss was about. It's quite an expressionistic piece in which you can see, just, a woman holding a man's penis, but it is extremely tame when compared to what has happened in the art world since then." Following this Paraskos was invited in 1967 to take part in a group exhibition, ''Fantasy and Figuration'', alongside
Pat Douthwaite Pat Douthwaite (28 July 1934 – 26 July 2002) was a Scottish artist. She has been notably compared to Amedeo Modigliani and Chaïm Soutine, the ''peintres maudits'' of early twentieth-century Paris. Life Douthwaite was born in Glasgow, ...
, Herbert Kitchen and
Ian Dury Ian Robins Dury (12 May 1942 27 March 2000) was a British singer, songwriter and actor who rose to fame during the late 1970s, during the punk and new wave era of rock music. He was the lead singer and lyricist of Ian Dury and the Blockheads ...
at the
Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch, the ICA c ...
in London. Dury was later to become a close friend as they both began teaching at Canterbury College of Art in 1970. Paraskos became the last British artist to be successfully prosecuted for obscenity under the Vagrancy Act 1838. An exhibition recreating the 1966 Leeds exhibition was staged at the Tetley Arts Centre in Leeds in 2016 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the original exhibition and prosecution, and in 2021 the trial featured in the BBC television documentary, ''Forbidden Art,'' presented by Mary Beard.


Teaching career

Paraskos started teaching part-time at Leeds College of Art (Leeds Arts University) in the mid-1960s after returning from St Ives in Cornwall. He also taught at
Leicester Polytechnic De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body. The name De Montfort University was ta ...
before becoming a lecturer at Canterbury College of Art (University for Creative Arts) in 1969. When Canterbury College of Art was renamed
Kent Institute of Art & Design The Kent Institute of Art & Design (KIAD, often ) was an art school based across three campuses in the county of Kent, in the United Kingdom. It was formed by the amalgamation of three independent colleges: Canterbury College of Art, Maidstone Co ...
, Paraskos was appointed a Senior Lecturer in Fine Art and then Head of Painting, before returning to Cyprus in 1989 to run the
Cyprus College of Art The Cyprus College of Art (CyCA) is an artists' studio group, located in the village of Lempa, Cyprus, Lempa on the west coast of Cyprus. It was founded in 1969 by the artist Stass Paraskos; the current director is the Cyprus-based artist Margaret ...
with his daughter Margaret Paraskos. Using his connections in the British art world, Paraskos was able to bring a large number of well-known international artists to the Cyprus College of Art, including
Anthony Caro Sir Anthony Alfred Caro (8 March 192423 October 2013) was an English abstract sculptor whose work is characterised by assemblages of metal using ' found' industrial objects. His style was of the modernist school, having worked with Henry Moor ...
,
Dennis Creffield Dennis Creffield (29 January 1931 – 26 June 2018) was a British artist with work owned by major British and worldwide art collections, including the Tate Gallery, The British Museum, Arts Council of England, the Government Art Collection, The L ...
, Jennifer Durrant,
Terry Frost Sir Terence Ernest Manitou Frost RA (13 October 1915 – 1 September 2003) was a British abstract artist, who worked in Newlyn, Cornwall. Frost was renowned for his use of the Cornish light, colour and shape to start a new art movement in ...
, Clive Head,
Michael Kidner Michael James Kidner (11 September 1917 – 2009) was a British op artist. Active from mid-1960s, Kidner was an early exponent of the genre. Through his interest in mathematics, he was part of the Constructivism (art), Constructivism moveme ...
, Mali Morris,
Euan Uglow Euan Ernest Richard Uglow (10 March 1932 – 31 August 2000) was a British painter. He is best known for his nude and still life paintings, such as ''German Girl'' and ''Skull''. Biography Euan Uglow was born in 1932 in London. As a child, he l ...
,
Rachel Whiteread Dame Rachel Whiteread (born 20 April 1963) is an English artist who primarily produces sculptures, which typically take the form of casts. She was the first woman to win the annual Turner Prize in 1993. Whiteread was one of the Young British Ar ...
and others, as well as many hundreds of art students from Britain and elsewhere, resulting in what John Cornall, writing in ''The London Magazine'' in 1996, called the discernable influence of Cypriot elements in British art during the period. These visits by internationally recognised artists resulted in the Cyprus College of Art being held up as one of the cultural highlights of Cyprus by several presidents of Cyprus and other government ministers during the 1970s and 1980s. However, according to Parakos's son, the art historian
Michael Paraskos Michael Paraskos, FHEA, FRSA (born 1969) is a novelist, lecturer and writer on art. He has written several non-fiction and fiction books and essays, and articles on art, literature, culture and politics for various publications, including ''Art ...
, Stass Paraskos believed he has deliberately snubbed by the academics at the University of Cyprus, after its foundation in 1989. Although Paraskos had received numerous assurances from Cyprus government ministers during the 1970s and 1980s that the Cyprus College of Art would form the nucleus of a new Faculty of Fine Art at the future
University of Cyprus The University of Cyprus (Greek: Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου) is a public research university established in Cyprus in 1989. It admitted its first students in 1992 and has approximately 7000 students. History The University of Cyprus wa ...
, on its creation he found himself sidelined by the new University authorities. According to Michael Paraskos, his father saw this as a personal betrayal by the government authorities, which pushed Stass Paraskos into taking an even more anti-establishment line in his art, writings and running of the Cyprus College of Art.


Style and influences

Paraskos's style of painting is figurative but non-naturalistic, and he uses bright colours to describe scenes which often seem rooted in his childhood in Cyprus. He is also influenced by the
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
church art of Cyprus, and modern masters, such as
Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...
and
Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...
. Works include ''Pagan Spring'' in the State Gallery of Contemporary Art in Nicosia, ''Lovers and Romances'' in the
Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...
in London, and ''Bathing,'' in the collection of the
Arts Council of England The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...
. According to Dominique Auzias and Jean-Paul Labourdette Paraskos's paintings 'illustrate Cypriot rural life, the tormented history of the island, love, life, death, always in a lyrical, romantic mode.' Despite primarily being a painter, in 1992 he began work on an ambitious sculpture wall, in the village of Lempa, on the west coast of Cyprus. This wall is made of found and recycled everyday objects, and comprises a mixture of abstract and figurative forms, including a King Kong-sized gorilla, a pigmy elephant and a giant pair of welcoming hands. The wall is twenty metres long and up to four metres high, and forms a sculpture garden enclosing the studios of the
Cyprus College of Art The Cyprus College of Art (CyCA) is an artists' studio group, located in the village of Lempa, Cyprus, Lempa on the west coast of Cyprus. It was founded in 1969 by the artist Stass Paraskos; the current director is the Cyprus-based artist Margaret ...
. Paraskos was consistently a political artist, with left-wing, and later
anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
, sympathies. A member of the Communist Party of Cyprus (
AKEL The Progressive Party of Working People ( el, Ανορθωτικό Κόμμα Εργαζόμενου Λαού, ; abbr. , AKEL; tr, Emekçi Halkın İlerici Partisi) is a Marxist–LeninistHelena Smith, Cyprus gets ready for a communist 'takeover ...
) in his youth, he used his art to look at subjects such as political and social oppression, the rights of women and the horrors of war in Cyprus and the Middle East. This political activism went beyond his painting too, with frequent articles by Stass appearing in Cypriot newspapers attacking what he saw as the destruction of Cypriot culture, society and the environment by capitalism. Of the European Union-backed international arts festival, Manifesta 6, scheduled to be staged in Cyprus in 2006, he wrote of it being 'a capitalist plot to hijack and destroy what is uniquely Cypriot in our culture and replace it with a bland globalism.'


Artistic career

Following his controversial exhibition in 1966 at the Leeds Institute Gallery, which was raided by the local police, Paraskos was invited in 1967 to take part in a group exhibition, ''Fantasy and Figuration'', alongside
Pat Douthwaite Pat Douthwaite (28 July 1934 – 26 July 2002) was a Scottish artist. She has been notably compared to Amedeo Modigliani and Chaïm Soutine, the ''peintres maudits'' of early twentieth-century Paris. Life Douthwaite was born in Glasgow, ...
, Herbert Kitchen and
Ian Dury Ian Robins Dury (12 May 1942 27 March 2000) was a British singer, songwriter and actor who rose to fame during the late 1970s, during the punk and new wave era of rock music. He was the lead singer and lyricist of Ian Dury and the Blockheads ...
at the
Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch, the ICA c ...
in London. His first exhibition in Cyprus followed a year later, at the Four Lanterns Hotel in
Larnaca Larnaca ( el, Λάρνακα ; tr, Larnaka) is a city on the south east coast of Cyprus and the capital of the district of the same name. It is the third-largest city in the country, after Nicosia and Limassol, with a metro population of 144 ...
after which he exhibited regularly in galleries in both the United Kingdom and Cyprus. His published resume also lists exhibitions in
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
, the United States,
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, and
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...
. In 2003 Paraskos was the subject of a book by the art historian
Norbert Lynton Norbert Casper Lynton (22 September 1927 – 30 October 2007, Brighton, England ) was Professor of the History of Art at the University of Sussex. From 1998 - 2006 he was Chairman of the Charleston Trust. He has published on architecture ...
, published by the Orage Press. His work is represented in the State Collections of Cyprus, the National Gallery of Greece, the Collection of the Arts Council of England, Leeds University Art Collection, Leeds City Art Gallery and the
Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...
(
Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...
), London. In 2008 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the
University of Bolton , established = 2004 – gained University Status 1982 – Bolton Institute of Higher Education , type = Public , endowment = £160,000 (2009) , administrative_staff = 700+ , chancellor ...
for his services to art and art education. In 2017 he was the subject of a major exhibition at
Pafos Paphos ( el, Πάφος ; tr, Baf) is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and New Paphos. The current city of Pap ...
Art Gallery in Cyprus as part of the city's celebrations as European Capital of Culture.


Writings

Paraskos was a prolific writer, writing numerous articles, predominantly in Greek, for newspapers in
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
, collections of poems and books on Greek mythology, including ''Cyprus of Copper'' in 1969, and ''Aphrodite: The Mythology of Cyprus'' in 1981. In the preface to Paraskos's book ''Aphrodite: The
Mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
of
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
'' the late
George Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy Thomas George Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy, (29 January 1909 – 22 September 1997) was a British politician who served as a member of parliament (MP) and Speaker of the House of Commons from 1976 to 1983. He was elected as a Labour MP. Bo ...
, a frequent traveller to
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
commented: "
Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...
provides an eternal fascination.... Stass Paraskos, one of Cyprus' most distinguished artists provides in this book an exciting recital of the influence
Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...
has brought to bear on
Greek Cypriot Greek Cypriots or Cypriot Greeks ( el, Ελληνοκύπριοι, Ellinokýprioi, tr, Kıbrıs Rumları) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2011 census, 659,115 r ...
development."Preface to Stass Paraskos, ''Aphrodite: The Mythology of Cyprus'' (London: Interworld, 2000) 1f Paraskos's ''The Mythology of Cyprus'' was published in Greek and Turkish translations in 2018.


Death

Paraskos died on 4 March 2014 in
Paphos Paphos ( el, Πάφος ; tr, Baf) is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and New Paphos. The current city of Pap ...
, Cyprus of
septicaemia Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is follo ...
caused by diabetes-related
gangrene Gangrene is a type of tissue death caused by a lack of blood supply. Symptoms may include a change in skin color to red or black, numbness, swelling, pain, skin breakdown, and coolness. The feet and hands are most commonly affected. If the ga ...
in his legs. He was 81 years old. A street in the village of Lempa, the current location of the
Cyprus College of Art The Cyprus College of Art (CyCA) is an artists' studio group, located in the village of Lempa, Cyprus, Lempa on the west coast of Cyprus. It was founded in 1969 by the artist Stass Paraskos; the current director is the Cyprus-based artist Margaret ...
, has been named after him in his memory.


See also

* Margaret Paraskos, his daughter, and an artist


References


External links


Official website for Stass Paraskos

Tate Gallery Catalogue

The Guardian newspaper (UK)

ArtUK Public Collection Art Listings in Britain

Catalogue for exhibition at Pafos 2017: European Capital of Culture, March 2017
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paraskos, Stass 1933 births 2014 deaths 20th-century British painters British male painters 21st-century British painters Greek Cypriot artists Modern painters St Ives artists Academics of Leeds Arts University Alumni of Leeds Arts University Obscenity controversies in painting Cypriot emigrants to the United Kingdom 20th-century British male artists 21st-century British male artists