Helen Lieros (3 August 1940 – 14 July 2021), was a Zimbabwean visual artist and educator.[1][2][3][4] Lieros was one of Zimbabwe's most illustrious artists and had a career that spanned across six decades.[5]
She was born on 3 August 1940 in Gweru, Zimbabwe to Greek parents. She studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and the Centre Contemporaine de la Gravure (now the Centre d'édition contemporaine ) in Geneva, Switzerland. She also spent time at the Istituto statale d'arte di Firenze in Florence, Italy.
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.
After teaching she moved to Harare (then Salisbury) in 1967, where she lived until her death.[6] She established Gallery Delta in Harare with her husband Derek Huggins in 1975.[7][8] The independent space has been involved in the curation, organisation, presentation and promotion of approximately five-hundred exhibitions.[9] Besides being invested in her own practice, Lieros and her husband dedicated most of their career teaching and mentoring generations of Zimbabwean painters.[10] These include Berry Bickle, Greg Shaw, Lovemore Kambudzi, Cosmas Shiridzinonwa, Gina Maxim, Misheck Masamvu,[11][12] Admire Kamudzengerere, Richard Mudariki,[13] and many others.[14] In early 2021, Lieros was honored by the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe as a National Merits Awards Legend.[15]
Lieros died in 2021, aged 81, from COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe.[16]