“Life is art—not the other way around.”

The quote comes from Andreas Karayan (born in 1943 in Nicosia, Cyprus), painter, writer, and physician. After studying medicine in Athens, he moved to London in 1967 to study psychiatry. Amidst “Flower Power” and the “Gay Liberation Front,” he realized his love for painting and for men. After coming out twice, he decided in 1970 to abandon medicine and study art – first at the Central School of Art, then at the Camberwell School of Art. In London, he met Helmut, his first “gay love.” He followed him to Stuttgart and continued his art studies at the art academy.

In 1978, Karayan returned to Cyprus and openly advocated for gay rights – in a country where male homosexuality was still a criminal offense until 1998. His exhibitions and publications sparked controversial debates.

His special connection to his “dream city” Berlin began in 1981 with the GDR show “Contemporary Art from Cyprus.” When the Berlin Wall fell, he reported on the city as a cultural journalist for Cypriot media. Through his acquaintance with gallery owner Friedrich Rothe, Karayan was able to present solo exhibitions in his gallery on Savignyplatz in 1990 and 1995. Magnus magazine drew parallels with the paintings of Edward Hopper.

Karayan is now one of Cyprus’ most important artists. His works are represented in international collections and have been shown at biennials in Venice (2001) and Cairo (2006), among others. As an author, he published numerous award-winning novels and completed a multi-volume fictional autobiography in 2023—his legacy.

And in 2025, the Republic of Cyprus honored him with a major retrospective and the “Stasinos” Prize for his artistic work, his social commitment to queer rights, and his “revolutionary attitude toward life.”

Our current find is a gift from Karayan to our collection: an oil painting of two men from the “Kavafis” series.

Image: “The Artist and His Model” (1990), from the “Kavafis” series, Andreas Karayan