Christoforos Savva (1924-1968) is widely acknowledged as one of the most
groundbreaking
Cypriot
artists of the 20th Century. Having spent a great deal of the '50s in
Paris and London, Savva settled back in Nicosia in 1960 and in a
relatively short period of time produced an impressive and highly diverse
body of works, ranging from
paintings to
sculptures, experimentations with
wire, cement, and leftovers from fabrics—apart from forays in the field of
furniture
design and
architectural interventions. The coexistence of styles and the wide range
of themes and references that appear in Savva's work seem to suggest that
strictly formal questions were not his main concern. It could be said that
the core of his practice constantly shifted toward a place that was beyond
both the form and the content of any individual work. Taking his activity
as a whole, there is a sense that this "beyondness" encapsulates his role
in Cypriot society and in the local artistic system that was being
organised at the time. In 1960, Savva founded, together with Welsh artist Glyn Hughes, Apophasis [Decision], the first independent cultural center of the newly established Republic of Cyprus. In 1968, Savva was among the artists representing Cyprus in its inaugural Pavilion at the 34th Venice Biennale.
