Excerpt from Xavier Delory's ‘open space’ series
Brussels-based conceptual photographer and visual artist xavier delory curates ‘open space,’ a series of new perspectives from within a decaying modernist tower. The work sees a reversal of the classic relationship between the ruin and the natural landscape, as seen in flemish landscape painting from the 17th century, where the two exist harmoniously. with the series, the artist references the ‘composed veduta’ by painters from the north which depict ruins of ancient rome surrounded by an arcadian landscape. unlike this style, xavier delory in his series of architectural photography proposes a condition where the landscape no longer welcomes the ruin, but becomes a part of the ruin.
While xavier delory introduces the natural context freely into this brutalist setting, ‘open space’ plays with the relationship between nature, materials, and landscapes. The artist suggests a visual continuity between the building’s derelict interior and the distant ridge line which it frames. with this strategy, the work references methods of early modernism which strive for a spatial continuity between an interior with its surroundings, putting man back at the heart of ‘creation.’
