Artist: Costas Varotsos
Location: Ammochostos Gate, Nicosia. Nicosia district
Material: Iron and glass
Dimensions: 6 meters
Category: Modern sculpture
Photography: Evangelia Matthopoulou
The sculpture was donated by Deste Foundation of Contemporary Art to the city of Nicosia. The president of Deste Foundation, Dakis Ioannou, a Cypriot in origin, is a very well known art collector of contemporary art worldwide.
The “Poet” was made by Costas Varotsos in 1983, and in 1985 it was placed at Ammochostos Gate, the eastern entrance to the old city close to the Green Line.
Costas Varotsos, one of the most renowned Greek sculptors of his generation, used glass in order to capture the power of motion, and virtually expand the poet’s presence in the public space. Glass is a characteristic material of Varotsos’ work but the “Poet” was the first work he attempted of this scale. His second attempt was in 1988 when he constructed the “Runner”, located in front of Hilton Hotel and the National Gallery in Athens.
The attempts to locate the “Poet” sculpture at “Ohi” (Όχι, No) square in the old city of Nicosia did not come to fruition. Consequently the artwork was moved and placed in the Ammochostos bastion gardens, a rather isolated and disproportionate spot compared with the Poet’s size and importance.
Selected sources:
~ Πολίτης (Politis), July 7, 2002, p. 2.
~ Αρχείο Δήμου Λευκωσίας (Nicosia Municipality Archive), 06-7.12, documents December 6, 2001; January 15, 2002; February 15, 2002; March 26, 2002.
~ Αρχείο Δήμου Λευκωσίας (Nicosia Municipality Archive), 06-7.17, document October 7, 2004.
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