HARIS EPAMINONDA / DANIEL GUSTAV CRAMER

ART EXHIBITION


Friday 29 November 2006, 20:00
Pharos Centre for Contemporary Art
24 Dem.Severis Ave.
Nicosia

29 November 2006 - 6 February 2007
Tuesday - Friday 10am-1pm, 3pm-5pm and by appointment
(Reception: First floor)

“Why this passion for the origin? This search for first forms, which is analogous to the search for the first man or for the first manifestations of art, which we nonetheless know to be ungraspable, if it is true that in one sense there never was a beginning, not for anything nor at any moment? In the past, the navigator who crossed “the line”, the zero parallel, was under the impression that he found himself at an exceptional moment and at a unique point, a sacred zone, the passage over which symbolized a crucial initiation. An imaginary line, a point that was geographically null, but one that represented, precisely by its nullity, the degree zero toward which one could say that man strives, out of a need to attain an ideal landmark from which, free of himself, of his prejudices, of his myths and gods, he can return with a changed expression in his eyes and a new affirmation."- Maurice Blanchot

 

Cypriot artist Haris Epaminonda and German artist Daniel Gustav Cramer will present their first joint exhibition at the Pharos Centre for Contemporary Art. The opening of the exhibition will be held at the Pharos Centre for Contemporary Art on 29 November 2006, at 8.00 pm.

Pharos Centre for Contemporary Art is hosting the first joint exhibition of Haris Epaminonda and Daniel Gustav Cramer, two exciting emerging artists who have never formally worked together, but have yet maintained an exploratory open dialogue investigating issues – connections and dualisms – that arise from their individual practices.

The two artists first met at the Royal College of Art, London, where they both took their MA in 2003. Their careers also have Cyprus as a connecting point: Haris Epaminonda grew up in Nicosia and currently lives and works in Nicosia and London, while Daniel Gustav Cramer, based in Berlin and London, has previously worked extensively in Cyprus while completing his work Trilogy.

At the Pharos Centre for Contemporary Art, Epaminonda will show a series from her collages and a video, based on her personal archives of found imagery. This work has marked the beginning of an ongoing project where the artist collects and reassembles both found images and footage, thus the use of various forms of collage, video, books, etc in forming the work. Cramer will be showing photographic works from his ongoing work Trilogy (Woodland, Underwater, Mountain), a work which has, over the past four years, developed into an archive of images of the world bereft of any human presence.

The artists

Haris Epaminonda’s work takes the form of collage, moving image, drawing, photography, books and objects. While still at the Royal College of Art, Epaminonda exhibited her video Nemesis 52 at the 21^st World Wide Video Festival in Amsterdam, the Archimede Staffolini gallery in Nicosia, ‘Peripheral Visions’ at the Cork Film Festival, and was selected for curated projects in London, Berlin, Paris, China, Rotterdam and Greece. Recently, work by Haris Epaminonda was exhibited in ‘From the Collection – recent acquisitions from the Deutsche Bank Collection’ in the VIP Lounge at the Frieze Fair, London 2006. This follows a successful first solo show in London and selection for ‘East International 2006’, UK.

Daniel Gustav Cramer exhibited four woodland photographs as part of his final exhibition, which marked the start of an extended project which has since developed into a substantial personal archive called Trilogy, the constituent parts being: Woodland, Underwater, Mountain. This project continues to grow and a selection of this archive has been exhibited widely, in solo shows in Casa dos Dias Da Agua in Lisbon (catalogue published by Kunststiftung NRW), Van der Grinten Galerie, Cologne and DOMOBAAL, London. Selected group shows and open submission award exhibitions that have shown a selection of Trilogy include: Bloomberg New Contemporaries, UK, 2003; Guardian/Observer Hodge Award, London, 2003; Förderpreis, Westfälischer Kunstverein, 2006; Die Liebe zum Licht 2006, Germany (touring). Daniel Gustav Cramer is currently a winner of the Jerwood Photography award. He has a solo show opening at Galleria Carla Sozzani in Milan, Italy this December. He will have his third solo show in London in spring 2007 followed by a solo presentation at the Goethe Institute London.

Pharos Centre of Contemporary Art will be publishing a fully illustrated catalogue which will also document this exhibition, including an essay specially commissioned by Dr Jonathan Miles, designed by Herman Lelie.

Both artists are represented by DOMOBAAL, London, www.domobaal.com