Haris Epaminonda - Chapters

About

Haris Epaminonda's exhibition centres on the newly commissioned film Chapters. Filmed in Cyprus, this is a poetic series of meticulously staged scenes with underlying narrative elements of love, longing, afterlife and ritual. Referencing Renaissance artist Fra Angelico and Georgian film director Sergei Parajanov the fixed frame of the camera shapes the film as a series of ‘pictures' capturing remote archaeological sites, ancient buildings and historical detail. Accompanied by the stark beauty of the soundtrack by Kelly Jayne Jones and Pascal Nichols', the barren, ashen-grey landscapes are punctuated by visually vibrant and colourful characters echoing the formal structure and palate of a Renaissance painting. The structure and ideas explored in Chapters are expanded into the three-dimensional world of the gallery. Parallels are drawn with the film's interior locations and open landscapes, creating a series of intimate spaces in which to view it. Chapters is co-produced by Modern Art Oxford, Kunsthaus Zürich, Point Centre for Contemporary Art in Nicosia, and the Fondazione Querini Stampalia in Venice. In each gallery she re-edits the film and presents it in an entirely different way, crafting a succession of intimately connected but distinct exhibitions.