Throughout history, artistic creation has drawn inspiration from the gods and heroes of mythology. Their legends and actions, transported across centuries, have been reinterpreted on every occasion, yet the original theme has been preserved.

The myth of the goddess Venus, which is directly connected with the tradition and history of Cyprus, could not but constitute a fundamental subject and source of inspiration for contemporary artists, who, in our own time, live and create on this island, surrounded by the sea from which the goddess emerged. Likewise, the A. G. Leventis Gallery wished, through the realisa- tion of the exhibition The Venus Paradox, to pay homage and place emphasis on this multifaceted myth.

The main exhibition was organised in collaboration with 19 museums and private collections from Europe and America. It focusses on the enormous importance attributed to Venus in the wider artistic production of the Western world, but also on the complex image of Venus as depicted in Western art from the 15th century to the 20th. This parallel exhibition, The Venus Paradox – The Contemporary Gaze, renders the myths of the goddess through the eyes of five contemporary Cypriot artists.

The decision to organise this parallel exhibition, a tribute to contemporary artistic creation, was not a coincidence. While the larger, central exhibition presents the many faces of the goddess, as experienced by European artists from the Renaissance onwards, we wished as curators to present current works of art as they have evolved in a contemporary context, with the goddess Venus providing the starting point and source of inspiration for today’s artists. Paradoxically, all five artists selected display their personal experiences and influences drawing on the myth of Venus and the traditions of our country, through their own gaze and through a contemporary approach, while remaining at the same time close to Cypriot reality.

With his work The Birth of Venus, Savvas Christodoulides deals with the deification of the female sex and projects the goddess as a dynamic contemporary woman. Venus, made of porcelain, emerges from crushed chinaware and takes us to the beginning of the legend, the myth connecting the birth of this great goddess with Cyprus.

Through the work As the Rock Wears Out, Kyriaki Costa seeks to bring the public in touch, on the one hand, with the engravings and representations on the so-called Aphrodite’s Rock, a well-known landmark of the island, and, on the other, with the multifaceted symbolism of the Rock. Visitors have the opportunity to examine copies of the engravings and decode the Rock through an artistic act.

Through two of his works from the series Aphrodite’s Baths, Theodoulos Gregoriou focusses on the Venus of love, but also on the importance of the sea and of the attraction between people. Using two video installations, he strives to activate erotic memories and sensations.

Nikos Kouroussis deals with the institution of ‘holy prostitution’ and presents two of his works from the series of the same title. Despite the limited references to holy prostitution – a custom referenced by Herodotus only and according to which every woman, before marrying, had to have intercourse with a stranger in the name of the Goddess – it constitutes a significant element in our understanding of the cult of Venus.

Love Breakfast, hosted by Lia Lapithi, invites couples to have breakfast in the exhibition rooms of the A. G. Leventis Gallery and to become part of a special experiential event. The artist draws inspiration from history through the words and images of the books Ancient Cyprus: 9000 Years of Culture by Vassos Karageorghis, Kypris: The Aphrodite of Cyprus by Jacqueline Karageorghis and The Erotic Life in the Ancient Art of Cyprus by Pavlos Flourentzou.

Demetra Theodotou Anagnostopoulou, Deputy Director & Head Curator, A. G. Leventis Gallery