Stass Paraskos
Born in Cyprus in 1933, into a family of very poor peasant farmers, Stass Paraskos was to become of one of the most important Cypriot artists of his generation.
After emigrating to Britain in 1953, he studied at at Leeds Arts University (formerly Leeds College of Art), and became widely known in the international art world following his arrest by police for an exhibition he staged in Leeds in 1966.
He was a well-known lecturer on art, teaching at several British universities and art schools, and in 1969 he founded the first art college in Cyprus, the Cyprus College of Art.
Always a radical figure in the art world, his paintings and sculptures often tackled overtly political subjects, and he played a key role in the battle against censorship of the arts in Britain in the 1960s.
With his work in major art collections around the world, Stass Paraskos remains to this day, the only artist born in Cyprus to have work in London's prestigious Tate gallery collection.
Detail from 'The Massacre at Qana (Lebanon)', 2007
(Private Collection)
Artist (1933-2014)
Stass Paraskos in his studio
in Leeds, England in 1966
LINKS
EXTERNAL LINKS
Arrest and Prosecution for Obscenity in 1966
Police file on Stass Paraskos held by the UK National Archives
Obscenity Trial in Alan Travis's book Bound and Gagged (2000)
Obscenity Trial in Yorkshire Post newspaper (2009)
Article on the Obscenity Trial in Kunststreit (2017)
Exhibition Against Vietnam War, Leeds (1968)
(when he was trying to start the Cyprus College of Art)
Cyprus College of Art Current Website
Stass Paraskos and the Cyprus College of Art
from The Cyprus Dossier 8 (2015)
Stass Paraskos in the Bienal de São Paulo, 1996 (catalogue)
Exhibition catalogue for The Anarchists (2007)
Leeds College of Art (Leeds Arts University) Obituary
University for Creative Arts Obituary
Obituary by David Haste (The Guardian newspaper)
Michael Paraskos on Stass Paraskos for the PMSA 2014
Catalogue for 2017 - Pafos City of Culture Exhibition
Tate Gallery, London, Catalogue
Ντοκιμαντέρ για Στας Παράσκος (PIK)
Στας Παράσκος, ο αναρχιστής – διανοούμενος (Πολίτης)
Ο Στας Παράσκος ζωγραφίζει ποίημα του Αντώνη Κ. Ηλιάκη
Detail from 'Enclave teacher in Karpasia
and her frightened children', 2000
(Private Collection)
Text on this page by Michael Paraskos, April 2018