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Guillaume Viaud

Virtual Landscape

08.10.13

Guillaume Viaud (1983) is a mixed media artist currently being exhibited at GREEK, the contemporary design showroom located in the Sant Gervasi neighbourhood of Barcelona which has embarked on hosting a series of international art exhibitions over the coming year in collaboration with the XO Collection (the contemporary art and ephemeral events agency). Paisaje Virtual (Virtual Landscape) is the first exhibition by the French artist in Spain, taking place from October 4th to November 9th. Having studied Plastic Arts at the Rouen Regional School of Fine Arts in France Guillame Viaud worked at an architectural studio in Paris where he perfected the craft of making scale models after graduating from college. He has travelled extensively and been exhibited in Scotland, Italy and France.

Viaud’s aesthetic is a futuristic one inspired by his interest in science fiction and the writings of Philip K. Dick as well as his fascination with motorbikes as a vehicle for expressing contemporary mythology. His creative process involves the dissection and assembly of industrial artefacts and objects (his raw material) and thus questioning their origin and design.

  • Ghost Rider. 2013 1/12 scale model, plastic and oil paints 16 x 6 x 8 cm

  • Works from the Specimen series

    The motorcycle is undoubtedly his defining muse. Inspired by the symmetrical anatomy of its bodywork Viaud uncovers the almost biological nature of these aerodynamic components, producing post-industrial trophies, such as Specimen (No. 11) and, to a lesser extent the entire Specimen series which reinterprets the Rorschach inkblot test in 3D. With Original_Copy the same bodywork is coated with black paint and then imprinted on paper leaving an impression of the original artefact. Based on the novel Pay for the Printer written by Philip K. Dick, the artist recreates the mould of a motorbike engine with ‘L’esprit de la machine’ treating it as a post industrial fossil whose function is defunct, giving way to a purely aesthetic appreciation.

  • L'esprit de la machine. 2012

    clay and mirror
    30 x 30 x 10 cm

    Disassembled and phantasmagorical, the motorbike only appears in full with Ghost Rider, a scale model covered with oil paints which considers the appropriation of this industrial artefact as a craft object. With the futuristic sculpture Space Odyssey the artist deconstructs his environment to reveal its hidden aspects: a winged mirrored backpack reflects the landscape within an abyss revealing different perspectives of its own setting, creating an authentic odyssey of shapes and colours.

  • Space Odyssey. 2011 photograph on baryta paper 59 x 75 cm

    Event Horizon (a work that contemplates the scientific phenomenon of black holes) is a luminous happening dripping with mystery. In this striking photograph a new artificial horizon stretches from one end of the landscape to another like an impossible atmospheric phenomenon. New Order plays with the idea of measurement devices to draw the horizon in a three dimensional. These ‘spatial objects’ are a symbolic representation of a territory which like authentic mental journeys, offer unexpected perspectives taking the form of architectural artefacts that open up a range of possibilities.

  • Event Horizon. 2010. Photograph on film, 85 x 170 cm

    For more than twenty years GREEK has been offering its clients and collaborators a range of services connected with architectural interiors and contemporary design. Its commitment to excellence is key to the design and realization of its projects.

  • New Order, 2009. folding measuring tape and brass hinges, 160 x 10 x 200 cm

  • Specimen (No. 5), 2012. Reduced model and spray paint, 35 x 35 x 6 cm

  • From 04 October to 09 November
  • Greek
  • Carrer de Bori i Fontestà, 21 08021 (Sant Gervasi)
  • www.greekbcn.com