EDUCATION
Academia di Belle Arti, Rome, Italy
BA Fine Art and Painting 2003
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Mindscapes 2013
Kypriaki Gonia Gallery, Larnaca, Cyprus
Fragments/Θραύσματα 2016
Apocalypse Gallery, Nicosia, Cyprus
“Traces”, OTE Centre of the Arts 2018
Thessaloniki, Greece
Ίχνη/Traces 2019
Alpha CK Gallery, Nicosia, Cyprus
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Participated in exhibitions organized in Greece, USA, UAE, UK and Cyprus
MEMBERSHIP
E.KA.TE The Cyprus Chamber of Fine Arts [member of the International Association of Art (IAA) and represents IAA in Cyprus]
ACHIEVEMENTS
Founded the Atelier di Pittura - Art School 2005
THEKLA PAPADOPOULOU
About
Born: 1978
Lives and works: Larnaca, Cyprus
Thekla Papadopoulou's artistic signature is recognized by her particular painting style of layering materials creating visual compositions of colourful abstract art. Her work comes always from a strong conceptual base as she constantly researches and experiments before concluding to proceed to a new art series.
These qualities characterize her recent art collection, called 'Fragments', where she composes abstracts forms that seek to outgrow the frame of the painted canvas such as our emotions would do extending to reach the surrounding space and people. She combines pieces of paper, threads and other materials on canvas or wooden boards, forming non-figurative images with vivid and pastel colors. Thekla's motion and energy is visually imprinted on her paintings giving back to the viewer a piece of her identity imprint.
Thekla Papadopoulou has been successfully exhibiting her artworks in solo and group exhibitions in her homeland Cyprus and as far as in New York and London. She has been short-listed in several art contests getting international recognition early on her art career.
Medium: Mixed Media on wooden board and canvas.
Selected Permanent Collections
Thekla Papadopoulou's paintings are held in numerous international private and corporate collections in Cyprus, Greece, Italy, United Kingdom.
Public Collections of Municipal Art Gallery in Larnaca, Cyprus.
PUBLICATIONS
Thekla Papadopoulou's work is featured in several international publications.
A selection of them is listed here.
EDUCATION
Academia di Belle Arti, Rome, Italy
BA Fine Art and Painting 2003
American Academy Larnaca
Academia di Belle Arti di Urbino
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Circles Made Up of Cubes 2015
Kypriaki Gonia, Larnaca
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Participated in more than twenty group exhibitions, in Greece, Italy, Brussels and Cyprus
.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Founded the Creative Art School, Ispirazione
Artist's Statement
''My work is characterised by richly textured surfaces which evoke the dynamics of the unfettered motion of the sea and the brooding power and mystery of the landscape. My images are not representational but seek instead to elicit the sensations, memories and wonder associated with our experiences and encounters with raw nature. My abstract works encompass a wide range of mixed media techniques including the use of sand, vitro, acrylic and oil, varnish, collage and found materials. With great dexterity I then synthesizes these disparate elements into a refined chromatic harmony- paintings which are at once ambivalent, monumental and enigmatic.''
ARTWORKS AVAILABLE for SALE by THEKLA PAPADOPOULOU
SHOWS of THEKLA PAPADOPOULOU
SOLO EXHIBITION
Title: Fragments/Θραύσματα, (catalogue)
Employing a fresh approach to her work, Papadopoulou brings the traditional values of abstract art back to the Cypriot contemporary art scene. Non-visible reality constitutes the main feature in the making of this particular chapter in the artist's work, entitled 'Fragments'. Arranged along groups of paintings, the presentation carries on, in fact expands, her earlier exhibition. The structuring of the composition, colour and texture play a predominent role in Papadopoulou's images. Pieces of paper, threads and other trivial materials marry with vivid oil colours on the canvas or on wood in order to map the form of a completed image in a non-figurative manner. The first and foremost factor in the creation of the artworks is the structure of the composition and the formulation of elements upon the canvas. Vibrant colours in broad brushstrokes, lines drawn freely with the brush without cohesion embrace pieces of paper and together with other materials make up the whole, whilst the removal or addition of such elements is decided by the artist in the course of creation. Though unseen and very personal, this process is in a way induced by the paintings themselves as it goes on to trace the subtle, almost choreographic motion of the artist at work. Conceptually, the fragments aspire to render innermost excerpts from pronounced emotions. In a plain, straightforward manner, without complicated semantic and symbolic references, Papadopoulou composes abstract forms that seek to outgrow the frame of the painted canvas. At the same time, they yearn to become an extension of the surrounding space and deliver a personal interpretation of the composite world of human emotions. Thekla Papadopoulou feeds the canvas with her motion and energy and through the impact of her visual scripture aims at giving back to the spectator, seeking to touch their own forgotten emotional fragments.
By Art critic and curator, Margarita Kounnafi
PAST SHOWS of THEKLA PAPADOPOULOU
Group Exhibitions
2019 Maison de la Grèce, Paris, France
2019 "Female pros", Municipal Arts Centre Leonidas Canellopoulos, Elefsina, Greece
2019 "Perceptions of Self(ie)", Mosesian Centre of the Arts, Boston, USA
2019 "Artifacts 2019", One Art Space Gallery, New York, USA
2018 "International Figurative Biennale", John Natsoulas Gallery, California, USA
2018 "The Sea Within", Limassol Municipal Art Centre, Limassol, Cyprus
2018 "Fine Art", Dalton Gallery of Agnes Scott College, Georgia, USA
2017 ‘Sender-Recipient’, Consulate General of the Republic of Cyprus, New York, Manhattan, USA
2017 ‘Mykonos to Athens’, Skoufa Gallery, Athens, Greece
2017 ‘Colour Fields’, Skoufa Gallery Mykonos, Mykonos, Greece
2017 World Art Dubai art fair, The Art Cocoon Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2016 International Juried Competition and Exhibition-Art Takes Manhattan "Extended Consciousness",
Exhibition at Caelum Gallery, New York, US
[only 20 winning artists selected worldwide]
2015 International Juried Competition and Exhibition-Donkey Art Prize 3,
Exhibition at Gallery 76, Dubai International Art Center, Dubai, U.A.E. (catalogue)
2014 International Juried Exhibition-Contemporary Painting,
Exhibition at The Brick Lane Gallery, London, UK
2014 «20x30x50», ARTos Cultural and Research Foundation, Nicosia Cyprus
2013 International Juried Exhibition-Cheapart 19 Athens,
Exhibition at CAMP, Athens, Greece
2013 Not a single day without a line, Municipal Art Gallery, Larnaca, Cyprus
2012 4÷4, Peter’s Gallery, Limassol, Cyprus
2012 Europe-Larnaca, Municipal Art Gallery, Larnaca, Cyprus (catalogue)
2012 'Witnesses', Kypriaki Gonia Gallery, Larnaca, Cyprus
2005 Mode of Expression, Iliotropio Gallery, Larnaca, Cyprus (catalogue)
2004 Equilibrio, Group Cerchio ,Atelier di Pittura, Larnaca,Cyprus
Curatorial Projects
2005 Group Exhibition-Photography-Atelier di Pittura, Larnaca, Cyprus
2004 Group “Cerchio”- Art Exhibition Equilibrio-Atelier di pittura, Larnaca, Cyprus
PUBLICATIONS of THEKLA PAPADOPOULOU
2019 March Apero catalog, March issue, title “Contrast”, Winner First Place Cover Artist – Thekla Papadopoulou + Curator’s review + Cash Prize
2018 December Thekla Papadopoulou interview, Art Reveal Magazine no.44, December 2018, pages:78- 83, ISBN 9780368032226
2017 September Painting “Fragments C’II” was included in Circle Quarterly Magazine among other 49 international artists.