Sergis Hadjiadamos: Metamorphosis

The topic of the exhibition, namely the alteration of objects due to physical deterioration and the metamorphosis of the humans. This very exhibition is a manifestation of intervention. It starts from the glass plate negatives that belonged to Spyros Haritou, the photographer of Paphos (1901-1990), then carries on via these glass plates and in fact ends with them – but in the meantime they have been modified in order to take on a larger meaning than the glass plates Sergis found in the basement of Haritou. Spyros Haritou was born in Kissonerga in 1901 and, as you all know, had for decades been the photographer of Paphos, tracing faces, families, groups of friends and landscapes onto glass with Balzac-esque indulgence. Sergis set out to use Haritou’s archive in order to bring out an album of unpub- lished photographs, an exhibition of daily life in Paphos – akin to what he had done with the 1974 bomb-wrecked port of Paphos. But then, there in the basement, something wondrous occurred. In his own words: “Time had left its own signature upon the glass plate. Humidity in the room had fused into the plates, crafting its own imaginary worlds”. The “natural, random fusion of the plates” brought to the surface a disfigurement of reality. The artist’s interest was intrigued by the random transfiguration of the objects, namely the glass plates, but also the random albeit definitive metamorphosis of the people pictured on them along with the vagueness of their identity. And so he changed course: instead of creating a photographic album, he set up this exhibition. In this respect, the contribution of Sergis Hadjiadamos consists of the tribute he paid to wear and tear as a sort of otherworldly design and an attempt at tracing the ever-evasive temporal dimension. He has honoured the absurd mirroring of the figures without really caring about what stands out and what lies behind, enchanted with the internal vibrations of the random that blends the truth with lying.
Charalambos Bakirtzis
Director of the Foundation Anastasios G. Leventis

Sergis Hadjiadamos was born in South Africa, Johannesburg, in 1975. His father was Andy Hadjiada- mos, a Greek-Cypriot sculptor and writer, and his mother is Jennyfer Lyn Thomson, a South African x-ray radiographer. The family moved back to Cyprus, Paphos, in 1980 and has lived there ever since. He began his first steps in art at the age of 15 after his father passed away.
He moved to Athens in 1994 to study art. He attended a 3-year course under the artist Nicolas Stefos. He was awarded a BA in graphic design Campus Art and Science College (Athens) 2001.

In 2003 he returned to Cyprus to hold his first solo exhibition in Nιcosia at Gloria gallery titled Victoria - Kifisia, and in Paphos at Azia Hotel, where he showed to his audience for the first time the use of modern technology by exposing them to digital art.

In 2007 he launched his own graphic design studio, Instant Ad, which operates until today. The same year, he published the free press magazine Beach News.

In 2010 he curated the retrospective exhibition of Andy HadjiAdamos (1936-1990) and published the book Andy Adamos (1936-1990) in two languages.

In 2012 he curated and documented a forbidden story that was kept a secret in his local town, and published a book titled Paphos Harbour 1974 by Michalakis Haritou

In 2014 he curated the project Window Art.

In 2017 he curated the art exhibition Risky Travels (risky travels FB) for PAFOS2017, European Capital of Culture, and published the book in three languages.

In 2018 he was awarded the Honour of Excellence at the Larnaca Biannale 2018 with his work “Paphos Souls”.

In 2019, he had his third solo exhibition in Paphos, Cyprus, under the title Metamorphosis at the Annabelle Hotel.

He has taken part in many group exhibitions.

Opening on January 8th at 19:30

Opening Hours
Monday - Friday: 10:30 - 12:45 & 17:00 - 20:00
Saturday: 10:30 - 12:45