Andreas Efstathiou was born in 1964, in the village Larnakas tis Lapithou in the district of Kyrenia, Cyprus. During the period of 1989-1994 he studied in New York at the New York Studio School and at the Ridgewood Art Institute, and had guest lecturers such as Euan Uglow and George McNeil. Upon finishing his studies, he returned to Cyprus. In 2007, Efstathiou and the renowned artist Stass Paraskos opened the Cornaro Art Institute in Larnaca, which was part of the Cyprus College of Art, where Efstathiou taught for 14 years. While working at the Institute, he collaborated with Northumbria University in Newcastle, UK, and Alexander College in Larnaca, Cyprus. Additionally, Efstathiou was a visiting tutor at the University of Leeds, UK.
In 2017, with the passing of his dear friend Paraskos, Efstathiou decided to move to Limassol. Since then, he has been living and working there, running a cultural centre, which he named Cornaro Art Centre in loving memory of his late fellow artist. The centre acts as the headquarters of The International Centre for Studies of Arts and Humanities (ICSAH) for the city of Limassol, and is in direct collaboration with the Dante Alighieri Society. The Cornaro Art Centre holds contemporary art exhibitions, life drawing sessions, talks, classical and jazz music concerts, and houses artist studios. Additionally, it recently opened a youth gallery, The Seed, which is the first youth gallery on the island. This project is a collaboration between Ksoporti Art Foundation and Cornaro Art Centre, and was realised as a response to the increasing need of the new generation of artists for a supportive and affordable platform to showcase their work.
Efstathiou’s works have evolved from realism to abstraction, and from vibrant colour palettes to black-and-white shades and soft hues. His subject matters are varied, as they are heavily influenced by his personal experiences and emotional state. His gestural and powerful brushstrokes mirror his fascination with Willem de Kooning, while his anthropocentric approach, either by the absence or by the depiction of human figures through the aesthetic of abstraction, suggests his deep respect for Alberto Giacometti. His recent work evolves around the concept of human intervention in the natural landscape either as a destructive force or a force of re-generation and protection.
In June 2013 he caused an international media storm with his unauthorized art installation in front of the Central Bank of Cyprus, where he lined up 20 concrete and plaster sculptures resembling a cross between toilets and tombstones. The installation was placed as a protest against the European Union's and the International Monetary Funds’ imposed austerity on Cyprus. In the artists own words when giving an interview to Reuters: “I felt the need to protest the situation my country is in...and I think the choice of toilets has a pretty clear symbolism for everyone”.
Efstathiou has shown at the Hellenic Centre and the Portico Gallery in London, UK; the National Arts Club in New York, USA; the Bozar Museum in Brussels, Belgium; the Oculus Center in New York, USA; the Municipal Arts Centre “Apothikes Papadaki” in Limassol, Cyprus; Kypriaki Gonia Gallery and Gallery Apocalypse in Nicosia, Cyprus; the Cultural Centre “Apothikes 79” in Larnaca, Cyprus; and Morfi Gallery in Limassol, Cyprus, among others. He was represented by Olympia Art Gallery at The Moscow World Fine Art Fair in Moscow, Russia, and in 2001 he represented Cyprus at the Alexandria Biennale in Alexandria, Egypt, and the Florence Biennale in Florence, Italy, along other fellow artists. In 2016 and 2023 Efstathiou was selected as one of the top 60 international artists of MvVOART, where the Jury included members from Sotheby’s, Christie’s, Gagosian Gallery, and Artnet. He was a member of the board of The Cyprus Chamber of Fine Arts (E.KA.TE) for many years and has works in prestigious collections on the island such as the Municipal Gallery of Limassol, the State Gallery of Contemporary Art, and the Loukia and Michael Zampelas Art Museum in Nicosia, the Ministry of Education, the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority, the Electricity Authority of Cyprus, the Bank of Cyprus and the Hellenic Bank, among others. Additionally, his works are part of private collections all over the world such as the UK, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Greece, the United States, Belgium, Portugal, France and the Netherlands.
Efstathiou's work was featured in the books “Drawing Space, Form and Expression”, by Wayne Enstice and Melody Peters, 1996, Second Edition, p.267, "Hyper Links" by the Ministry of Education and Culture of Cyprus in collaboration with the Evagoras and Kathleen Lanitis Foundation, 2004, and “Public Monuments” by the Sculpture Association of London, 2013 .