© Klonaris/Thomadaki

KLONARIS / THOMADAKI

"From the moment they moved to Paris in 1975, Klonaris and Thomadaki formed an inseparable pair. Klonaris/Thomadaki conceived vast cycles that ran over several years and developed in several artistic disciplines: Body Tetralogy, Unheimlich Cycle (around the 'disquieting strangeness' of the Feminine), Hermaphrodite Cycle, Electra's Dream, Portrait Series, Angel Cycle, Sublime Disasters. The Twins... With these recurring figures that are out of the ordinary, they question the frontier between the sexes. Well before the emergence of the queer movement, Klonaris/Thomadaki's work, nourished by critical thought (psychoanalysis, philosophy, sociology, feminist thought...), looks at gender and intersexuality.

By combining expanded cinema and in-situ work, Klonaris/Thomadaki develop installations and projection environments, often monumental, in museums or abandoned places. Examples include Mystère I: Hermaphrodite endormi/e (Paris, 1982), Le Rêve d'Electra (Villeneuve-Lès-Avignon, 1986), Night Show for Angel (London, 1992), XYXX: Mosaic Identity (Linz, 1994), Stranger than Angel (Ljubljana, 2002).

The political dimension of Klonaris/Thomadaki's work is always combined with a force of plastic revelation. The philosopher Marie-José Mondzain has underlined the paradoxical alliance of a high tradition of the sacred image, of which they are the heirs, and a very innovative practice of media arts.

In 2000, the Cinémathèque Française devoted several programmes to them as part of the retrospective 'Jeune, dure et pure! A history of avant-garde and experimental cinema in France.' Subsequently, the CNC's French Film Archives and the National Library of France worked with the artists to build up their archives, fixed on fragile supports, into an enduring heritage. Restored under their direction, the films Selva (1981-83), Chutes. Désert. Syn (1983-85), Unheimlich 1: Dialogue Secret (1977-79) were admired by audiences in several countries, hypnotized by these secret ceremonies in which repressed powers are awakened. This two-headed work continues its journey."

– Alain Carou (curator) (BnF, Audiovisual Department)

See the individual pages:
Maria KLONARIS
Katerina THOMADAKI

4 MOVIES IN DISTRIBUTION

  LA TORTURE
1976-2012 / Video / b&w / sound / 1S / 15' 00 / 64 €
distribution: Digital file on server
PERSONAL STATEMENT, OPUS 19 DU CYCLE DE L'ANGE
1994 / color-b&w / sound / 1S / 7' 00 / 50 €
distribution: Digital file on server
REQUIEM POUR LE XXÈME SIÈCLE, OPUS 18 DU CYCLE DE L'ANGE
1994 / color-b&w / sound / 1S / 14' 00 / 65 €
distribution: Digital file on server
L'ANGE AMAZONIEN : UN PORTRAIT DE LENA VANDREY
1987-1992 / Super 8mm / color-b&w / sound / 1S / 92' 00 / 315 €
distribution: 16mm