A decisive shot for his career… It was while traveling in Japan that Olivier Robert, from Neuchâtel, took a photo that inspired his painting. Anthropocene. Its composition represents a group of teenagers who observe manta rays swimming in the basin of a large aquarium. The similarity of the scene with the painting The Lord’s Supper by Leonardo da Vinci particularly struck her. Selected to be exhibited at the 16th edition ofArt Friend Prize in Venice, Chaux-de-Fonniers is at a turning point in his career. This is his first artistic experience outside of Switzerland.
240 works from all over the world are finalists in the Italian competition. The exhibition opens its doors on Sunday in the prestigious spaces of the Arsenal in Venice until mid-April. It offers an overview of the current state of international contemporary art. Olivier Robert will be present at the award ceremony this Saturday which will perhaps crown him the winner. The selected painting has already won over the public at the La Chaux-de-Fonds Contemporary Art Biennale in 2017. Today, the artist’s work distances itself from the selected painting. He now illustrates landscapes from photographs of a single place, recomposing it in his own way. “I edit my own photos to create other things,” says Olivier Robert.
The title of the table, Anthropocene, refers to this strange habit of going to observe nature in spaces built by and for man. A deterritorialized nature which paradoxically has become the best refuge for certain endangered animals. “These living cathedrals exert such a fascination on visitors that it is difficult not to see a certain form of devotion there,” insists Olivier Robert. /mcr
