Christodoulos Panayiotou en

Biography

In Dying on Stage, a lecture-performance consisting of YouTube clips, Cypriot artist Christodoulos Panayiotou (CY, 1978, basé à Limassol et Paris) reflects on the spectacle of death. From taboos and tragedies to accidents and idealisations, drawing equally on the metaphysics of tragedy and the triviality of game-shows, the piece presents the outlines of an impossible representation. Trained in dance, Panayiotou’s inspirations include the 1992 premiere of the ballet La Bayadère, staged by Rudolf Noureev shortly before his death. Dying on Stage assembles extracts from films, operas, concerts and variety shows. From Pasolini to Amy Winehouse via Dalida, this wide-ranging lecture articulates “phantom” images such as these in an extended monologue, punctuated with a segment of a dance performance by Jean Capeille. A love letter to the idea of the spectacle, the performance deconstructs aesthetic hierarchies and unites its audience members around their sole destiny.

Dying on stage has been presented at, among others, the Musée d’Orsay as part of the Festival d’automne, Paris, at Camden Arts Centre, London, 2019; at Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Brussels, 2018; at the Sharjah Biennial; and at Centre Pompidou in Paris, 2017. Christodoulos Panayiotou has exhibited at Camden Art Centre, London; La Tallera, Mexico, 2019; Galerie Kamel Mennour, Paris; Rodeo, London; Belvedere 21, Vienna; Dhaka Art Summit, Bangladesh; and Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, 2018.