Petridis Christos (1958 - 2013)

He was born in Limassol, Cyprus in 1958. He studied Business Administration at the Business School of the University of Piraeus (1977-1982) and painting at the Minerva Academy in Groningen, Netherlands (1984-1988). His first solo exhibition was presented in Athens (Cyprus Embassy, 1984).
His painting oeuvre is dominated by images of real or imaginary environments, which seem to be emerging from dreams, fairytales or distant memories, not without bearing some affinities to surrealism. The narrative elements are more vividly present in his older works: the paintings are flooded with objects, biomorphic and flying forms, alluding to children toys or to the symbolic treasure of the subconscious. Later, his large-sized compositions acquire a plainer landscape arrangement, without many descriptive details, rendering the sense of an almost metaphysical cosmos.
He usually uses oil and acrylic paints, while he often borrows elements from graffiti, such as spray colours, in order to highlight the particular texture of the surfaces and the distinctive atmosphere of his scenes.
His work was presented in solo exhibitions in Athens, Thessaloniki, Cyprus and the Netherlands. He participated in the 4th Biennale of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean (Bologna, 1988). He also participated twice in Art Athina (1994 and 2001) and in many other group exhibitions in Greece and Cyprus, as well as Algeria, the Netherlands and Sweden.
He died in 2013 in Athens.