#115: Haris Epaminonda

Epaminonda’s video works are based on re-shot excerpts of film and television footage – principally the Greek soap operas and kitsch romantic films from the 1960s that used to fill up Sunday afternoons in the artist’s Cypriot childhood –which she then subtly reworks. Sometimes local celebrities appear in her films, but, in contrast to the early works of Francesco Vezzoli or T.J. Wilcox, they don’t do so in order to emphasize a phantasmal communion with their constructed identities. The scenes that she chooses to work with are not instantly recognizable from the original narrative, so the culled images are effectively stripped of their initial meaning and context. These out-takes are then edited and adapted in a variety of ways: the film’s speed and direction are changed, sections are distorted, its colour is intensified, or a poignant soundtrack is added. Most significantly, she also superimposes footage to make surreal composites: an indoor scene, say, might also have traces of fireworks glimmering through it. While these are all common manipulation techniques of digital video, Epaminonda uses them with captivating sensibility. Extract by Dominic Eichler (Frieze 111).

In addition to a wide range of international solo exhibitions and exhibition participations, Haris Epaminonda received the Silver Lion award at 58th International Art Exhibition, Venice Biennale (2019); The Günther-Peill Award at the Leopold-Hoesch Museum & Papiermuseum (2014); The audience award at the Preis der Nationalgalerie für Junge Kunst at Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin (2013) and the SB9 Award at the 9th Sharjah Biennial (2009).

Haris Epaminonda was born in Cyprus in 1980. She lives and works in Berlin, Germany.