Helen Lieros

Helen Lieros
Born(1940-08-03)August 3, 1940
Gweru, Zimbabwe
DiedJuly 14, 2021(2021-07-14) (aged 80)
Harare, Zimbabwe
Known forPainting
SpouseDerek Huggins

Helen Lieros (3 August 1940 – 14 July 2021), was a Zimbabwean visual artist and educator, mentoring generations of artists for over five decades. Lieros was one of Zimbabwe's most illustrious artists and had a career that spanned across six decades.

Early life and education

She was born on 3 August 1940 in Gweru, Zimbabwe to Greek immigrant parents. She studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and the Centre Contemporaine de la Gravure (now the Istituto statale d'arte di Firenze) in Geneva, Switzerland.

After wandering in Europe, Lieros returned to Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) in 1964, and took up a position as a teacher at Chaplin High School, where she had been a student.

Career

After teaching she moved to Harare (then Salisbury) in 1967, where she lived until her death. She established Gallery Delta in Harare with her husband Derek Huggins in 1975. The independent space has been involved in the curation, organisation, presentation and promotion of approximately five-hundred exhibitions. Besides being invested in her own practice, Lieros and her husband dedicated most of their career teaching and mentoring generations of Zimbabwean painters. These include Berry Bickle, Greg Shaw, Lovemore Kambudzi, Cosmas Shiridzinonwa, Gina Maxim, Misheck Masamvu, Admire Kamudzengerere, Richard Mudariki, and many others. In early 2021, Lieros was honored by the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe as a National Merits Awards Legend.

Lieros died in 2021, aged 81, from COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe.

Solo exhibitions

References

  1. ↑ ArtFacts. "Helen Lieros | Artist". ArtFacts. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  2. ↑ Garan’anga, Stephen (17 June 2016). "Lieros: Multifaceted, exceptional artist". The Herald. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  3. 1 2 "NACZ mourns legendary visual artist, Helen Lieros". The Chronicle. 14 July 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  4. 1 2 Mandivengerei, Paidashe (14 July 2021). "Visual Arts Icon Helen Lieros Dies At 81". NewZimbabwe.com. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  5. ↑ Murray, Barbara, Barbara (1995). "Helen Lieros". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  6. ↑ "Helen Lieros". AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  7. ↑ https://allafrica.com/stories/202107160598.html
  8. ↑ "Helen Lieros". gallery delta. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  9. ↑ Mushakavanhu, Tinashe (24 July 2021). "Building an art gallery in the midst of war in Zimbabwe". The Conversation. Archived from the original on 13 April 2022. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  10. ↑ Mugwara, Tafara (17 November 2020). "Feature: Exhibition brings together Zimbabwean art lovers for first time since pandemic - Xinhua | English.news.cn". www.xinhuanet.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  11. ↑ Art Mentorship by Helen Lieros (8 Dec 2020), retrieved 21 July 2021
  12. ↑ "Misheck Masamvu - The Jean Pigozzi Collection of African Art 2021". CAACART - The Jean Pigozzi Collection of African Art. Archived from the original on 15 July 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  13. ↑ O'Toole, Sean (26 May 2018). "Carnivorous Politics, Defiant Bodies: Harare Painting in Turbulent Times | Frieze". Frieze (196). Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  14. ↑ "Richard Mudariki |". Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  15. ↑ Earground (14 July 2021). "Fare thee well! Helen Lieros a name deeply engraved in Zimbabwe's creative history". earGROUND. Archived from the original on 15 July 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  16. ↑ "Zim: NAMAs to host legend awards". Music In Africa. 25 November 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  17. ↑ "Gallery Delta closes after death of founders". 15 July 2022. Archived from the original on 13 February 2025. Retrieved 22 May 2023.