Valentinos Charalambous
The life and work of Valentinos are inextricably intertwined. He was born in a family of potters and lived his childhood at their pottery in Ammochostos. He is the first cypriot who studies ceramics abroad and following the completion of his studies he spends nearly thirty years in Iraq where he establishes the Department of Ceramics at the University of Baghdad where he is a professor. He returns to Cyprus in 1985 and since then he lives and works in studio in Limassol. The monograph begins with snapshots capturing Valentinos full of energy and passion working on and discussing what he always loved. A brief introduction to the long tradition of ceramics in Cyprus from ancient times until the 1950s, is followed by a biographical section which records the life and work of Valentinos from his childhood in Ammochostos until his large retrospective in 2013 at the Evagoras Lanitis Center in Limassol. The second section of the book is divided in eight chapters. The first three revolve around three broad periods of his work until the late 1960s and the following three are concerned with wall mounted works, bowls and free standing ceramic sculptures. Also included in this section is a representative sample of his studies and experiments in glazing materials and techniques (recipes and photographic documentation) and an epilogue dealing with his latest cycle of works, the small bowls. The book concludes with a selection of critical texts, a chronology and bibliography. The monograph is part of the “Cypriot Artists” series published by the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation.