Vertigo
"Built in 1922, this Parisian artist's studio still exists but its roof was truncated by the following owners. I reconstructed the missing part and then give it eyes by adding two round windows, inspired by the villa in the film Mon Oncle by Jacques Tati. I imagined a new life by transforming it into a post-war public swimming pool-bath where a light, carefree atmosphere would now reign, filled with splashes and children's cries. There are cabins on the roof, a lifeguard on her high chair, an old dinosaur to decorate the bar, pink flamingos, a landing strip for a zeppelin, an aquarium frequented by a whale and a deep-sea diver from Stanley Kubrick's film 2001 A Space Odyssey. Divers take off from this dizzying diving board. Yet a man attracts the attention of the bathers. Everyone looks at him except a woman played by actress Monica Vitti. A closer look, this place seems to hide some unclear stories." - Laurent Chéhère
The ‘Flying Houses’ photomontages of Laurent Chéhère invoke a sense of wonderment, nostalgia, and limitless imagination. Informed by creative luminaries such as Jules Verne, Hayao Miyazaki, Moebius and Robert Doisneau – among others – Laurent channels hundreds of photographic elements into fantastically creative scenes, transporting us into his dream-like world. Using the cosmopolitan neighbourhoods of Paris as inspiration, Laurent isolates buildings of the urban context and releases them from the anonymity of the street.
Works by the artist are archival inkjet prints on Hahnemühle Paper and framed in black, finished with UltraVue 70 anti-reflective glazing. The 63 x 63 inch edition (if available) is finished with oversized plexiglass.