A new exhibition is set to open as the Nicosia Gloria Gallery hosts Rinos Stefani’s showcase The Man Who Carries Holes. Running from Friday until April 3, the exhibition opens with introductions by visual artist Christos Foukaras and musician-composer Evagoras Karageorgis.

Three sections of the exhibition will be presented under the titles Perforated, Re Alexis and Landscapes. Commenting about this body of work, Professor Emeritus in the History of Art at the Athens School of Fine Arts Niki Loizidi states: “Rinos Stefani draws material from personal childhood memories, adventurous journeys to distant places, and from wars and revolutionary uprisings of the past. Judging from the strongly political, social, and historical dimensions of these works, Stefani, both as an artist and as a thinking person, harbours no illusions about the course and development of Cypriot history.

“Suffice it to say, a noteworthy thematic motif (the load bearer) which appears in multiple variations and, through a potent dose of bitterness and sarcasm, conceals a deep yet compellingly revelatory meaning. In the exceptional diptych Buffer Zone, the load bearer is shown holding a mass of stones in his hands.

“In the section Perforated,” she adds, “there is a composition where the bearer is depicted lifting a bunch of grenades with his hands and in another composition in the same section, the bearer has as a painful burden a sack of… holes! The means of attack or building materials carried by the previous figures have been transformed into sacks riddled with holes, which – judging by the strained posture of the porters – must be very heavy!”

The Man Who Carries Holes

Exhibition by Rinos Stefani. March 13-April 3. Gloria Gallery, Nicosia. Opening night: 7.30pm. Monday: 5.30pm-8pm. Tuesday – Friday: 10.30am – 12.45pm and 5.30pm – 8pm. Saturday: 10.30am – 12.45pm. Tel: 22-762605. www.gloriagallery.com