Kikos Lanitis was born 1948 in Limassol of Cyprus, but since 1961 and up to his coming of age he lived and studied in London. The 60s, a time in London when artists were trying to wean themselves from the avant-garde, will mark his life and his later artistic course strongly. In 1964 he left his family and lived alone, supported by a council grant for athletes. He studied painting at the Kingsway College, where he met young musicians and actors and worked with them as a stage designer. He spends time in a hippie commune; and took to the techniques of batik, developing them with his own experimenting, creating psychedelic patterns on second hand clothes.

His first works are obviously influenced by the avant-ga...