Fontana presents brand new works by Ruud van Empel and Hellen van Meene, and the latest series of Marchand & Meffre.
Floresta | Ruud Van Empel
In the 'Floresta' series native and exotic plant species are seamlessly interwoven in digital collages. Over the past 25 years, Van Empel has continually evolved his approach, redefining the boundaries of photomontage to evoke a surreal and captivating aesthetic.
‘Les Ruines de Paris’ | Yves Marchand & Romain Meffre
“By imagining an abandoned Paris, we allow ourselves to wander through the now deserted streets, exploring the city and playing with the tourist and cultural symbols that shape the image of the capital. The importation of this apparent reality into our own becomes an exploration of the motif of ruin and its representation, between historical and personal references. Both a projection and incarnation of our apocalyptic fears at the very moment of the major paradigm shift marked by the sudden generalization of artificial intelligences and their exponential rise in power: does the ruin of Paris not become the visual metaphor for this anxiety?”
Hellen van Meene
Hellen van Meene rose to international fame with her intimate portraits of young girls balancing on the threshold of adulthood. Van Meene is not concerned with capturing the identity or personality of her models. For that reason, she deliberately does not give her photos titles; no reference is needed to the identity of the people portrayed. Her photos are timeless portraits in which a dreamy, sometimes fairytale-like atmosphere predominates.
Jacquie Maria Wessels
Memory Master #58 is part of the installation 'Memory Master Tree Installation 2021' consisting of six works printed on thin silk from the analogue photo series Memory Master. This poetic series represents the memory of places you might have been. Mostly the memory is not clear with precise detail. It can act as an afterimage, vague sometimes veiled with tatters... The mysterious impressionist images evoke an atmosphere of vanishing memories.
The 'Memory Master Tree Installation' comprises a selection of photos concentrating on trees. Details of the trees are barely perceptible, yet each tree expresses its own nature. This installation plays with the idea that the memories may be captured by the trees as witnesses of what passes. The photos are printed on large delicate silk fabrics. The fluttering works are moved by fans, emphasizing the fragile, ephemeral and painterly character of the works.