Helene Black: 1995 :: Amathus

Waterworks
Commissioned Installation and artworks for the Amathus Beach Hotel, Limassol, Cyprus
Architects: Colakides and Associates, Limassol, Cyprus

Review by Glyn Hughes (published in the Cyprus Weekly Newspaper)
Bathed in light and on form at the pool
Billed as the most spectacular indoor swimming pool on the island, and with the talents involved, it might as well could be, the Amathusia Health and Fitness Centre should cause more than a ripple on the art scene. The artist chosen to do an installatory delight for the Amathus Beach Hotel is Helene Black. So often the artwork for a hotel is a lot of paintings which may relate in theme to the name of the block or something, but very rarely relate to the immediate environment. Helene’s assignment was from the start a set of pieces to respond to light, space and the beauty of the indoor pool. Her track record is certainly suitable. Born in Cyprus but brought up in Australia, Helene, in the short time that she has been living here, has made an impression with her work. First noticed with a formal abstract in Stainless steel at an EKATE (Cyprus Chamber of Fine Arts) annual a few years back the artist has since had two one-person shows at Morphi Gallery in Limassol. Her latest was a shimmer of light, light on blue, blue paint on steel, which had all the pull and flow of a river in spate. At the time I remarked that the gallery was awashed with blue, but it was also filled with light. At the second Poetic Dialogue, Helene had a remarkable series of walls which were notable for their intriguing and subtle textures. They contrasted with the cave like surface of the Scali Cultural Centre. At the Amathus, her water/sea inspired creations will be an important development in the use of talented individual artists used for hotel decoration. It has been done with tiles, mosaics, or friezes; now it’s the turn for reflections for these stainless steel, laminated glass, silvered and painted, Murano glass, aluminium and silver pigment respond to different lighting conditions throughout the day. Its visual intensity is continuously changing. In the evening there will be floodlighting, causing the forms to dissolve and flicker in the water reflections. This optical dappling resembles a moving Monet with neo-geo strengths. Impressionism on the move as you swim. Helene Black’s idea of layering of forms is based on the various wavelengths of waves. Her works both dominate and fits in beautifully with the space. She has an artwork behind the bar, a centre niche installation on the west wall of the indoor pool, and is in the process of making two or more smaller niches. All very cool and elegant.