Short: Sergis Hadjiadamos is a creative artist with South African and Cypriot heritage. He channeled his multicultural upbringing into his art, beginning his journey at age 15 after his father's passing. He studied Fine Arts and Graphic Design. In 2003, he held his first solo exhibit in Cyprus, showcasing digital mixed-media art. Sergis has worked in various mediums and curated several exhibitions. From 2007 until 2012, he published the Art Magazine Beach News. In 2010, he successfully curated his father's retrospective exhibition that celebrated 20 years since the artist's passing. In 2017, he curated the Exhibition Risky Travels for the European Capital of Culture, PAFOS2017. Over the years, he participated in many group exhibitions. In 2018, he was awarded at the Larnaca Biennale for "Paphos Souls,” a triptych of damaged glass negative plates. In 2019, he held his first solo exhibition titled "Metamorphosis," and "Metamorphosis 2" in 2022. He has also exhibited his digital art collection "Reconstructing Our Common Values" in 2022 and is involved in the NFT art scene.
Sergis is currently working on his project “Metamorphosis”: Unfolding History through Art!
Biography: Sergis Hadjiadamos, born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1975, is a creative artist deeply influenced by his heritage. His parents fled from Cyprus back to South Africa in 1974 due to the Turkish invasion that occurred that year on the island. His mother Jennifer is originally from South Africa. The family later returned to Paphos, Cyprus in 1980 where Sergis grew up and inherited his father’s artistic spirit. He was exposed to different cultures and environments growing up in South Africa and Cyprus, and he channeled this influence into his art.
Sergis began exploring art at the age of 15, following the passing of his father. He participated in workshops and classes with local artists, learning to experiment with different materials and approaches. In 1994, he moved to Athens to study art and completed a two-year fine arts course at Nicolas Stefos Studios. He then earned a BA in Graphic Design from Campus Arts and Sciences in Athens in 2001.
In 2003, Sergis held his first solo exhibition, Victoria - Kifisia, at Gloria Gallery in Nicosia. The exhibition was also presented at the Azia Hotel in Paphos the following year. This made Sergis the first artist to introduce digital mixed-media printed art to Cyprus. In 2004, he moved to Athens and worked as a graphic designer for three years, developing his skills in information architecture and packaging design at Nereus Frozen Fish.
In 2007, Sergis returned to Cyprus and opened his graphic design studio, Instant Ad, which he sold in 2020. That same year, he also began publishing Beach News, a free newspaper featuring local stories, entertainment articles, and market tips, distributed along the coast of the Paphos district.
In 2009, Sergis continued to challenge himself artistically by working with acrylic paint on canvas and participated in a group exhibition, Memories of the Past, at the Old Paphos Electricity House.
In 2010, he curated a retrospective exhibition of his father's work and published a book about it in both Greek and English. Andy Adamos (1936-1990)
The following year, he created an acrylic painting on canvas titled Man and Bird, which he exhibited with the Cyprus Artists Board. He also designed and coordinated the exhibition catalog for their group show, Eikastiki Paphos.
In 2012, Sergis became interested in the hidden local stories and unrecorded events of his hometown after discovering an old photograph of a soldier at the Medieval Castle of Paphos. He curated the documentation of this forbidden story and published a book about it, titled Paphos Harbour 1974. Sergis continues to be curious about and document the rich history of Cyprus through his artwork and writing.
In 2014, Sergis worked on the gentrification issues in his hometown through a project called Window Art. He curated this exhibit, featuring the artwork of local independent artists, in abandoned shops in the old town of Paphos to engage the public and bring attention to art residencies in a neglected area.
In 2017, Sergis was involved in the European Capital of Culture program for Paphos and curated the art exhibition Risky Travels for PAFOS2017. This exhibition featured the work of two sculptors, Andy Hadjiadamos and Baki Bogac, who were born on the same island but separated by war. Hadjiadamos fled as a refugee, leaving behind his studio, while Bogac discovered the studio and, despite the challenges and risks of the demilitarised zone on the island, managed to send Hadjiadamos his art pieces and other findings from the studio. The Risky Travels exhibition allowed these two artists' paths to intersect, despite them never meeting in person, and their artworks were displayed in a dialogue at the Old Powerhouse in Paphos. Sergis also published an Artist’s book about the exhibition, featuring the artworks and descriptions of both artists and including their biographies in Greek, Turkish, and English.
In 2017, Sergis presented an acrylic painting called Love in Space in a group exhibition at Gloria Gallery in Nicosia for the gallery's 44th anniversary. In 2018, he exhibited his painting Structural Inequality and an art poster titled Green Line 1974 in the Recalling biennial group exhibition at the Almyra Hotel in Paphos. This exhibition featured artists from all over Cyprus.
In 2018, Sergis was awarded the Honour of Excellence at the Larnaca Biennale 2018 for his work Paphos Souls, a triptych of three pictures depicting portraits of people with shared characteristics. These pictures were found in an old photographer's storeroom and had been damaged by humidity and time, causing the images to merge. Sergis transformed this archival debris into mixed media artworks by enlarging them digitally and creating superimposed duets of images and figures.
In 2019, Sergis held his third solo exhibition, Metamorphosis, at the Annabelle Hotel in Paphos. This mixed media project used photography and acrylic paint to depict both decay and revival as art. He also worked with artists Michalis Charalambides and Emilio Koutsoftides in a group exhibition called New Synapses at the Mespilea Art Gallery in Paphos, showcasing inherited artistic expressions from their family lineages.
In 2020, his exhibition Metamorphosis was presented at Gloria Gallery in Nicosia. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Sergis had to cancel his planned exhibition of Metamorphosis in Athens.
In 2020, Sergis also exhibited photographs for the first time, under the title The Greasy Pole, on an online virtual gallery. These photographs were taken in 2010 to document the specific festival game. Sergis continues to explore and document the rich history of Cyprus through his artwork and writing and is always seeking new ways to challenge and evolve his artistic practice.
In 2020, Sergis participated in a charity group exhibition called ‘Life’ at the Leventis Gallery in Nicosia, which was organized by the Red Cross Cyprus and Alpha CK Gallery.
In 2021, Sergis is participating in the group exhibition Contemporary Venice Art Fair 2021, with a new style of artwork created during the lockdown in 2020.
In 2021, Sergis is participating in the group exhibition that is dedicated to the award-winner artists of the Larnaca Biennale 2018.
In 2021, he took part in the Contemporary Venice Art Fair with new artwork created during the lockdown in 2020 and was also featured in a group exhibition of award-winning artists from the Larnaca Biennale 2018. He also presented a book authored by professors George Kechagioglou and Lefteris Papaleontiou, which was published by Vakxikon Publishing and featured the literature and notes of his late father, Andy Adamos Hadjiadamos (1936-1990). The book presentation was accompanied by a physical exhibition curated by Sergis that displayed sketches by the writer along with previously published stories. He also participated in the group exhibition Restart, organized by the New Wave movement. New Wave.
In 2022, Sergis held his fifth solo exhibition, titled Reconstructing Our Common Values, at the AB gallery in Paphos. This exhibition featured digitally printed artworks that were also offered as NFTs.
He also debuted his second series of artworks made from trashed glass plate negatives, titled Metamorphosis 2, in Athens at the “Spiti Tis Kyprou” gallery for the first time.
In 2023 Sergis developed his art through a series of experimentations assembling new fascinating collections. Collections Galleries.
In 2024, Sergis approached local institutions such as the University of TEPAK, which is involved in the UNESCO cultural restoration program. This program will aid in uncovering the history preserved in the archive. Additionally, he reached out to the Cyprus Institute, which will offer a collaboration focusing more on experiments with the destroyed glass negative plates than on historical matters.
Sergis's artwork and curatorial approaches often explore themes of cultural duality, auto-ethnography, and cultural heritage digitization through the merging of narratives and artifacts. His concepts address the tension of political power imbalances and highlight social justice issues through art activism, mixed media, and grassroots curatorial collaborations.
Risky Travels Opening Speech. PAFOS2017 European Capital of Culture 2017.
Finding a chair in the middle of nowhere is a sign for relaxation!
At the opening of my exhibition Metamorphosis with mr. Charalambos Bakirtzis and my son Andy.
With the president of the Republic of Cyprus Mr. Nicos Anastasiades at the opening of the exhibition Risky Travels that I curated and took place under the auspices of the European Union’s Capital of Culture, PAFOS2017