Antoine Claes
"Architectonic structures such as warehouse windows, factories or construction sites are the backdrops of our daily lives. They are archetypes that I use as models."
Belgian-Canadian Antoine Claes was born in Montreal and first studied visual arts at Collège St-Laurent. Claes later attended the École Supérieure des Arts Visuels de Cambres in Belgium, achieving his Bachelor’s degree in Art Design at Montreal’s Concordia University in 1999. At the Studio de la Montagne, Claes continued to develop his interest in both photography and the architecture of the urban landscape.
The dual nature of his inspiration is partially responsible for the pictorial organization of his artwork; just as light and line play integral roles in both architecture and photography so too do they assist in determining the structure of Claes’ artwork. Through his study of industrial design, Claes is able to translate the architectonic structures of the physical realm into the two-dimensional world of his art while imbuing his forms with atmospheric emotion through his use of both light and dark elements. Putting to great use such forces of opposition as rigidity/fluidity and concrete/atmospheric to create dynamic energy within his individual aesthetic, Claes intensifies the resonance between artwork and audience.
Claes’ titles are also elements of his inspirational process by providing a basis on which his artistic development is built. In this way, he does not demand a justification for his production, instead allowing both his titles and the landscape to speak for themselves, self-justifications that do not require further explanation. The artworks themselves are constructed within an overarching vertical and geometric plan, which in conjunction with his treatment of light, dominates Claes’ artistic production.
Making use of a palette knife to delineate the faces and edges of the structures within his images, the potential of transparency, of looking into the industrial spaces where few outsiders generally venture. This adds a dimension of mystery to his works, drawing the viewer into the somewhat ephemeral environment he has created through the sense of a light screen that exists between building and the viewer, similar to those that permeate contemporary culture. |
