Ignacio and the city is first of all the union of two artistic minds. Two protagonists questioning the materiality of things, contrast, the relationship between spectator and art. Both, driven by a desire to question the medium of representation. On the one hand, Vincent Lelièvre, artist-draftsman, renowned in France for his many works on urban imagination, and on the other hand, Clément Decoster, photographer of the younger generation, wandering between Lille, Paris and Brussels.
Associating the world of urban architecture with fashion portrait photography represents a bold challenge at the very heart of this first collaboration. The series, Ignacio and the city highlights a young model who describes himself as a «human error». Man, body, skin and sheath, these are the materials Vincent and Clément choose to use.
No sheet of paper, no fresco, nor wall of expression, human chrysalis, Ignacio becomes his own materiality, vitality and expression. The boundary is then blurred, the spectator is led to wonder, the drawing is granted life, the whole thing is brought to light under the photographer’s gaze. Through a pronounced and trained use of black and white, the mise en abyme is revealed. Henceforth, eyes connect, roles are reversed; prey becomes predator, spectator-actor, observer-observed: the fourth wall is brought down.
The series is a working progress, allowing for a glimpse of future compositions on female bodies and couples. A collaboration of two artists and their work, to be (re)discovered on their respective websites or Instagram pages and soon to be exhibited. More news to come.
