Photographs of Parisian façades that appear strangely two dimensional—isolated moments where architecture seems interrupted—are spray painted with graffiti phrases
that articulate frustrations and proclamations elicited by
another architectural void. A large video projection places
us in the “Porte d’Erewhon” subway station (the name an anagram
of nowhere borrowed from Samuel Butler’s novel about an island
where time has stalled) where we observe the unfolding depiction
of a violent explosion mediated by time, presented as advertisement,
and rendered as a perfect ambiguity. The installation is
bracketed by wall-sized photographs of a highway underpass
being reclaimed by natural forces and is anchored by the
presence of posters printed with Da Vinci’s didactic instructions
for painting a battle scene. In this environment, we are
left to construct our own narratives in an attempt to reconcile
the legacy of an event that continues to lie beyond our capacity
to do so.
Eric Baudelaire’s work was included in Elizabeth Dee Gallery’s
four person exhibition Adrian Piper, Eric Baudelaire,
Josephine Meckseper, Wayne Gonzales in December 2006
and is currently on view at the Centre Pompidou in an exhibit
of recent acquisitions. He has had solo exhibitions at the
Musée de la Photographie in Charleroi, Belgium and the Galeria
Juana de Aizpuru, Madrid. In 2005, he was the recipient of
the prestigious HSBC prize for photography.
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