Contour Gallery cordially invites you to delve into the captivating realm of memories through dreamlike atmospheres brought to life by the Belgian artist Jan Pypers.
The serie "Diorama's" marks the second body of works created by Pypers, offering a mesmerizing journey into his illusory world.
When you hear the word "diorama", you might think of your fourth-grade project made with an old shoebox. The intential purpose of the modern diorama is to educate children and adults about global flora and fauna, cultural scenes, or historical events.
When they were first introduced, dioramas had a distinct character. Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, renowned for inventing the daguerreotype, was also the creator of the diorama.
As we stand before the Diorama's creations within the museum, a profound sense of wonderment envelops us. Are these scenes truly tangible? While elements of our familiar reality are captured within the photographs, a subtle distinction keeps us distanced from them. Nature reigns supreme within these compositions, every inch echoing its presence. The artist's intention is to rekindle our connection with nature, urging us to foster a profound bond with it, to cherish its purity. Over time, with the advancement of technology, this bond has weakened, sometimes to the point of near extinction. Nowadays, with all our gadgets we often forget the magnificence of our surroundings in the world around us.
The atmosphere we face seems surreal, yet if we reflect for a moment, there is nothing strange about it: its nature. As human beings, we represent only a small part of what Earth is today, and this is also reflected in the images where human presence appears only as a small testimony, compared to the enormity that nature represents. Pypers tries to tell us a story and at the same time make us experience it, entering the collective imagination through his work. He invites us to reflect and perhaps rethink our approach to our daily lives and our relationship with nature.