IYP X Centre d’ Art Contemporain Genève, Genève

Karamaghiolis’s practice encompasses fiction film, documentary, installation work, and creative social interventions, all of which foreground stories of invisible everyday heroes. Those stories often connect to the ongoing crises defining the social fabric in Greece, but ultimately they speak to European society at large.

His films are usually set in Athens, sometimes in Kypseli, one of the city’s oldest and most culturally diverse neighborhoods. The director’s eye brings Athens to life in extraordinary and touching accounts. A Karamaghiolis film documents reality in a very personal and poetic way, inviting viewers to bring their own meanings to the scenes they witness. The proximity and empathy of the artist towards the protagonists has the potential to transform an everyday scene into something mystical.

In a career spanning four decades, Karamaghiolis has been able with his work to reveal the extent to which documenting real life can be an important starting point for art that is both contemporary and topical. His unique approach also allows him to question the effects of cinema on society while also inspiring audiences to engage with film in interactive ways. In the context of his solo exhibition, Menelaos Karamaghiolis has decided to pay tribute to his friend Stelios Faitakis (1976-2023), an extraordinary Greek painter with whom he shared not only a passion for Byzantine Art but also a sense of tireless civic commitment. A dedicated room presents four paintings by the artist.