QUAYOLA

Stratas,a project that came to life in 2007, consists of a series of films, prints, and installations: this term defines a geological formation constructed of multiple layers of rock; which correspond to various eras. The title of this cycle by Quayola refers to the idea of relative time, a powerful metaphor for a history composed not so much as a linear process, but as an accumulation of signifiers over time, delineating the stratification of images characterizing this work which aims to generate a short circuit between the past and present. The starting point of Strata #4:large paintings with sacredthemes by Rubens and Van Dyck at Palais de Beaux Arts in Lille.

Through an installation, viewers assist in a dynamic analysis of these figurative Flemish paintings: volumes, chromatic schemes, proportions of figures in relation to the entire piece. The images are then deconstructed into their primary components, revealing the very rules behind the composition, yet this process also serves the purpose of creating new images in a contemporary style. After St. Peter’s Basilica, Strata #1, the stained glass windows of Nôtre Dame in Paris, Strata #2, the Grand Theatre of Bordeaux, Strata #3, and with this fourth piece of the cycle, Quayola continues to challenge our knowledge of classical art, and in toying with techniques of deconstruction and construction, he creates new contemporary images in order to pursue the unattainable universal rules of beauty. Quayola, a Roman visual artist who is now based in London, explores the dialogues and unpredictable collisions between real and artificial, figurative and abstract, old and new, tensions and equilibriums. His works, which have traveled the globe (London, Paris, New York, Buenos Aires), delve into photography, geometry, installations, and immersive and digital performances.

TECHNIQUE

Super-high resolution images of the paintings have been assembled from many photographs shot in the museums and were then explored and analyzed with the use of a software developed for this project. The aim is to capture data related to the visual characteristics of the paintings and then to generate complex geometric formations based on this data. The result is a series of geometric landscapes built within the very same rules behind the paintings themselves. Quayola work commissioned by Palais de Beaux Arts in Lille direction, design, animation by Quayola producer Beccy McCray sound design Matthias Kispert photography James Medcraft animation Kieran Finch, Cai Matthews programming Mauritius Seeger, Evan Bohem technical support Patrick Hearn produced by Nexus, London