VOL. XXIII By Haris Epaminonda

The most recent exhibition of Berlin-based, Cypriot artist Haris Epaminonda, ‘VOL. XXIII’, was an exploration of minimalism and conceptualism through a series of assemblages.

Shown at Vienna’s Secession, ‘VOL. XXIII’ was the most recent in a series of consecutively numbered “Volumes”. Shying away from explanation of the work, these titles suggest a linear order of events, an ambiguity that Epaminonda uses frequently to free her audience from a singular way of seeing. For ‘VOL. XXIII’, she transformed the gallery at Secession into a whitewashed space, luminous in its brightness. The objects within ‘VOL. XXIII’ share an aesthetic unity bound to geometry and defined by their minimal color palette. The placement of these objects has been meticulously devised, though the rationale behind their chosen positions is left open to interpretation. Whether it is the model horse standing beside the pool and Roman columns, or the golden bust of man, the exhibition is both a scene and a story. As mirrors reflect both the audience and the space, there is a sense of being somewhere else — immersed in the deep blue of the velvet curtain that hangs from the ceiling and then envelopes the room from all reflective angles.

All images © Sophie Thun