Lefteris Olympios

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Lefteris Olympios was born in Limassol, Cyprus in 1953.   He studied in Athens, Graphic Arts at the Doxiades School, 1973 - 1976, and Painting,  Iconography, Fresco and Mosaic at the School of Fine Arts, 1978 - 1984. From 1984 to 1986 he studied Painting and Sculpture at the Free Academy of Fine Arts, The Hague. During the summer of 1985 he visited the IJmuider Kring, an artists' community in IJmuiden, a village close to Amsterdam. His contact with this group and especially the painter Lei Moulin was crucial for the development of his work. In 1996 he started working on the series of 'Promise' after the events of Derynia, Cyprus the same year and the tragic death of Tassos Isaak and Solomos Solomou. 'Promise' finished in 2000 and the next three years has been exhibited in six cities in four different countries: Portugal, The Netherlands, Greece and Mexico. This series breaks away from local dimensions and ends up depicting the universal agony of mankind. 'Promise' is not exhibited till now in Cyprus. In 1997 he participated and represented Cyprus in the 47th Venice Biennale with the series of work 'Filoxenia'. Olympios's investigation moves around aspects of Cypriot civilization as they evolved through the Byzantine tradition and the Mediterranean landscape. He exhibits regularly in Cyprus, Greece and The Netherlands, and his work is included in major private and public collections.