Editing Stass Paraskos

{{short description|British-Cypriot artist}}
{{EngvarB|date=December 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Stass Paraskos
|image = File:Stass Paraskos.jpg
|caption = 
|birth_date = 17 March 1933
|birth_place = [[Anaphotia]], Cyprus
|occupation = Painter, sculptor, writer
|years_active = 1961–2014
|children = [[Margaret Paraskos]]
|death_date = 4 March 2014 (aged 81)
|death_place = [[Paphos]], Cyprus
}}
'''Stass Paraskos''' ({{langx|el|Στας Παράσκος}}; 17 March 1933 – 4 March 2014) was a British-Cypriot painter, sculptor, and writer. Born and raised in Cyprus, he spent much of his life working and teaching in England, where he famously became embroiled in a [[Stass Paraskos Obscenity Trial 1966|1966 obscenity trial]], before returning to Cyprus to open the island's first school of art.

==Early life==
Paraskos was born in [[Anaphotia]] on 17 March 1933, the second of six sons of an impoverished peasant farmer.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Haste |first=David |date=2014-03-28 |title=Stass Paraskos obituary |url=http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/mar/28/stass-paraskos |access-date=2022-11-15 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref> He went to England in 1953, working first as a pot washer and waiter at the [[Aerated Bread Company|ABC Tearoom]] in London's [[Tottenham Court Road]], then moving to [[Leeds]] to become a cook at his brother's Greek restaurant.<ref>Panikos Panayi, ''Spicing up Britain: The Multicultural History of British Food'' (London: Reaktion Books, 2008) p. 158</ref> The restaurant became a popular haunt of local art students who encouraged Paraskos to enrol for classes at Leeds College of Art (later [[Leeds Arts University]]). Despite not having the usual entry qualifications to start a college course, he was spotted by the college's Head of Fine Art [[Harry Thubron]], who allowed Paraskos to enrol without the usual requirements.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Haste |first=David |date=2014-03-28 |title=Stass Paraskos obituary |url=http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/mar/28/stass-paraskos |access-date=2022-11-15 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref> He became close friends with artists such as [[Dennis Creffield]], [[Terry Frost]], and [[Wilhelmina Barns-Graham]], with the latter two persuading him to move to [[St Ives, Cornwall|St Ives]] in 1959. He shared a studio apartment in St Ives with Barns-Graham until he returned to Leeds in 1961 to teach at Leeds Arts University.<ref>Norbert Lynton, ''Stass Paraskos'' (Mitcham: Orage Press, 2003) 7f</ref>

==Obscenity trial==
In 1966, Paraskos was involved in a notorious court case, which became known as the [[Stass Paraskos Obscenity Trial 1966|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 1970s. Despite luminaries of the art world speaking in Paraskos' defence, including Sir [[Herbert Read]] and [[Norbert Lynton]], and messages of support from Britain's Home Secretary [[Roy Jenkins]], he lost the trial and was fined £25.<ref>[[Benedict Read]] (ed.), ''Herbert Read: A British Vision of World Art'' (London: Lund Humphries, 1993) 18</ref>

Terence Jones, reviewing a retrospective exhibition of Paraskos' work held in Leeds in 2009, stated, "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."<ref>Quoted in 'A ray of Cypriot sunshine who caused scandal in '60s Leeds' in ''The Yorkshire Post'' (UK newspaper), 27 February 2009</ref>

Following this, Paraskos was invited in 1967 to take part in a group exhibition, ''Fantasy and Figuration'', alongside [[Pat Douthwaite]], Herbert Kitchen, and [[Ian Dury]] at the [[Institute of Contemporary Arts]] in London.<ref>ICA, ''Fantasy and Figuration'', exhibition cat., London, 1967, Tate Archive (London) ref. LON-INS (S.C.)</ref> Dury was later to become a close friend as they both began teaching at [[Canterbury College of Art]] in 1970.<ref>Richard Balls, ''Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll'' (London: Omnibus Press, 2001) p79 and ''passim.''</ref> Paraskos became the last British artist to be successfully prosecuted for obscenity under the Vagrancy Act 1838.<ref>'Artist Stass Paraskos to be honoured at Leeds light show', in The Cyprus Mail (Cyprus newspaper), 4 September 2014</ref> An exhibition recreating the 1966 Leeds exhibition was staged at the [[The Tetley (Leeds)|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 (classicist)|Mary Beard]].

==Teaching career==
Paraskos started teaching part-time at [[Leeds Arts University|Leeds College of Art (Leeds Arts University)]] in the mid-1960s after returning from St Ives in Cornwall. He also taught at [[Leicester Polytechnic]] before becoming a lecturer at [[University for the Creative Arts|Canterbury College of Art (University for Creative Arts)]] in 1969.

When Canterbury College of Art was renamed [[Kent Institute of Art & Design]], 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]] with his daughter [[Margaret Paraskos]].<ref>David Haste, ''Stass at Canterbury'', in [[Michael Paraskos]] (ed), ''Stass Paraskos'' (Mitcham: Orage Press, 2009) 36f</ref> 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]], [[Dennis Creffield]], [[Jennifer Durrant]], [[Terry Frost]], [[Clive Head]], [[Michael Kidner]], [[Mali Morris]], [[Euan Uglow]], [[Rachel Whiteread]] 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.<ref>John Cornall, 'Earth wisdom : Cypriot connections in British art : Geoffrey Rigden & Stass Paraskos' in The London Magazine, February 1996</ref>

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]], 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]], 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.<ref>Michael Paraskos, ''Stass Paraskos: A Celebration for Pafos 2017 - European City of Culture'' (London: Orage Press, 2017) p. 8</ref>

==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 Empire|Byzantine]] church art of Cyprus, and modern masters, such as [[Paul Gauguin]] and [[Henri Matisse]]. Works include ''Pagan Spring'' in the State Gallery of Contemporary Art in Nicosia, ''Lovers and Romances'' in the [[Tate Gallery]] in London, and ''Bathing,'' in the collection of the [[Arts Council of England]].

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.'<ref>Dominique Auzias and Jean-Paul Labourdette, ''Petit Futé: Chypre'' (Nancy, Editions Petit Futé, 2018) p.35</ref>

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]].<ref>John Cornall, ''Stass and Cypriotness'', in Michael Paraskos (ed), ''Stass Paraskos'' (Mitcham: Orage Press, 2009) 16f</ref>

Paraskos was consistently a political artist, with [[left-wing]] and later [[anarchist]] sympathies. A member of the Communist Party of Cyprus ([[Progressive Party of Working People|AKEL]]) 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.<ref>Michael Paraskos, ''Stass Paraskos: A Celebration for Pafos 2017 - European City of Culture'' (London: Orage Press, 2017) p.4</ref> This political activism went beyond his painting, with frequent articles by Stass appearing in Cypriot newspapers attacking what he saw as capitalism's destruction of Cypriot culture, society, and the environment. He called the [[European Union]]-backed international arts festival [[Manifesta|Manifesta 6]], scheduled to be staged in Cyprus in 2006, a "capitalist plot to hijack and destroy what is uniquely Cypriot in our culture and replace it with a bland globalism".<ref>Quoted in Michael Paraskos, 'In Darkest Cyprus: Manifesta 6' in ''The Cyprus Weekly'' (Cyprus newspaper), 20 January 2006</ref>

==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]], Herbert Kitchen and [[Ian Dury]] at the [[Institute of Contemporary Arts]] in London.<ref>ICA, ''Fantasy and Figuration'', exhibition cat., London, 1967, Tate Archive (London) ref. LON-INS (S.C.)</ref>

His first exhibition in Cyprus followed a year later, at the Four Lanterns Hotel in [[Larnaca]]<ref>Stass Paraskos's diary, published in Michael Paraskos, ''In Search of Sixpence'' (London: Orage Press, 2016) p.102</ref> after which he exhibited regularly in galleries in both the United Kingdom and Cyprus. His published resume also lists exhibitions in [[Greece]], the United States, [[Brazil]], [[India]], and [[Denmark]].<ref>Evi Papadopoulous (ed), ''The Kean World of Orange'' (Limassol: Kean Ltd, 2009) 42</ref>

In 2003 Paraskos was the subject of a book by the art historian [[Norbert Lynton]], 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 Britain]]), London.

In 2008 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the [[University of Bolton]] for his services to art and art education.<ref>Evi Papadopoulous (ed), ''The Kean World of Orange'' (Limassol: Kean Ltd, 2009) 42</ref>

In 2017 he was the subject of a major exhibition at [[Paphos]] Art Gallery in Cyprus as part of the city's celebrations as [[European Capital of Culture]].<ref>Pafos 2017: European City of Culture, ''Stass Paraskos: A Celebration'' (London: Orage Press, 2017) [https://issuu.com/artcyprus4/docs/hello_print_complete Weblink]</ref>

==Writings==
Paraskos was a prolific writer, writing numerous articles, predominantly in Greek, for newspapers in [[Cyprus]], collections of poems and books on Greek mythology, including ''Cyprus of Copper'' in 1969, and ''Aphrodite: The Mythology of Cyprus'' in 1981.<ref>Michael Paraskos, New Introduction to ''The Mythology of Cyprus'' by Stass Paraskos (London: Orage Press, 2016) p.i-iii</ref>

In the preface to Paraskos's book ''Aphrodite: The [[Mythology]] of [[Cyprus]]'' the late [[George Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy]], a frequent traveller to [[Cyprus]] commented: "[[Greek mythology]] provides an eternal fascination.... Stass Paraskos, one of Cyprus' most distinguished artists provides in this book an exciting recital of the influence [[Greek mythology]] has brought to bear on [[Greek Cypriot]] development."<ref>Preface to Stass Paraskos, ''Aphrodite: The Mythology of Cyprus'' (London: Interworld, 2000) 1f</ref>

Paraskos's ''The Mythology of Cyprus'' was published in Greek and Turkish translations in 2018.

==Death==
Paraskos died in [[Paphos]] on 4 March 2014, at the age of 81, following a bout of [[septicaemia]] caused by [[diabetes]]-related [[gangrene]] in his legs. He was survived by his daughter and fellow artist [[Margaret Paraskos]]. A street in the village of [[Lempa, Cyprus|Lempa]], the current location of the [[Cyprus College of Art]], was named after him in his memory.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.stassparaskos.org Official website for Stass Paraskos]
* [http://archive.tate.org.uk/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqServer=tb-calm&dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=Overview.tcl&dsqSearch=((text)='Paraskos')  Tate Gallery Catalogue]
* [https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/mar/28/stass-paraskos The Guardian newspaper (UK)]
* [http://artuk.org/discover/artworks/search/actor:paraskos-stass-19332014 ArtUK Public Collection Art Listings in Britain]
* [https://issuu.com/artcyprus4/docs/hello_print_complete Catalogue for exhibition at Pafos 2017: European Capital of Culture, March 2017]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Paraskos, Stass}}
[[Category:1933 births]]
[[Category:2014 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century British painters]]
[[Category:British male painters]]
[[Category:21st-century British painters]]
[[Category:Greek Cypriot artists]]
[[Category:British modern painters]]
[[Category:St Ives artists]]
[[Category:Academics of De Montfort University]]
[[Category:Academics of Leeds Arts University]]
[[Category:Academics of the University for the Creative Arts]]
[[Category:Alumni of Leeds Arts University]]
[[Category:Obscenity controversies in painting]]
[[Category:Cypriot emigrants to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:20th-century British male artists]]
[[Category:21st-century British male artists]]