Lefteris Economou

Lefteris Economou (1930 -2007) was born in Frenaros, in Ammochostos district. He graduated from the Elliniko Gymnasio Ammochostou where he was taught art by Telemachos Kanthos (1910 – 1993) for two consecutive years. He studied art and pedagogics in London (Central St. Martin’s School of Arts, 1949-50, Sir John Cass College, 1950-54 and Goldsmith’s School of Art, 1954 -55). Among his teachers were sculptor B. Copnall and painter and printmaker P. Drury.

In 1955 he returned to Cyprus and started working as an art teacher of art and technical drawing in the public education sector. At the same time he showed great commitment to his artistic production and the daily artistic labour. He was an active member of the artistic scene of Cyprus and he is considered one of the prominent creators of the second generation of Cypriot artists. Among his works there are drawings, oil paintings, engravings, sculptures and murals. His subjects are in most cases inspired by his native land Cyprus and its people. His work is the result of a wide range of experimentations with various techniques, styles and scales that resulted in the articulation of various personalized visual manifestations. His work bears obvious influences from impressionist and post-impressionist movements, expressionism, cubist tendencies, fauvism and even orphism which have been filtered and infused in his practice. He has shown works in many solo and group shows mainly in Cyprus, Greece, several European countries, mainly the UK but also in the USA and India. In 1974 he was awarded the “Diplome d’ honneur” at the International Salon de Mai, in Biarritz France. In 1976 he represented Cyprus at the Cairo Biennale at the Inter-Grafik International Printmaking Exhibition in E. Berlin. He was founding member of Ε.ΚΑ.ΤΕ. of which he was also its president.

He traveled a lot in order to keep up-to-date with artistic tendencies, he wrote short stories and he occasionally wrote about art subjects in local newspapers. His works are featured in public and private collections in Cyprus and abroad. Economou was awarded a number of prizes and distinctions: Υiannos Kranidiotis award – 1999, Tefkros Anthias and Theodosis Pierides award – 2000 and the Republic of Cyprus award for his artistic contribution – 2002.