All nowhere gone I
2011
charcoal on paper
133 x 205 centimeters
Unique
For the three drawings "All Nowhere Gone I, II & III", elements of the reconstruction for "Hubris" were extracted, reconstructed and repeated. The works play on the sense of recognition found through the comparisons with "Hubris". Exaggerated gestures accentuated by dramatic lighting direct the viewers' eye around the forms suggesting that after the frozen moment, the sense of action will continue.
All nowhere gone II
2011
charcoal on paper
135 x 195.5 centimeters
Unique
For the three drawings "All Nowhere Gone I, II & III", elements of the reconstruction for "Hubris" were extracted, reconstructed and repeated. The works play on the sense of recognition found through the comparisons with "Hubris". Exaggerated gestures accentuated by dramatic lighting direct the viewers' eye around the forms suggesting that after the frozen moment, the sense of action will continue.
All nowhere gone III
2011
charcoal on paper
133 x 213 centimeters
Unique
For the three drawings "All Nowhere Gone I, II & III", elements of the reconstruction for "Hubris" were extracted, reconstructed and repeated. The works play on the sense of recognition found through the comparisons with "Hubris". Exaggerated gestures accentuated by dramatic lighting direct the viewers' eye around the forms suggesting that after the frozen moment, the sense of action will continue.
Hubris
2011
oil on canvas
200 x 300 centimeters
Unique
In "Hubris", two destroyed baroque paintings, one mythological and one religious, both with themes of martyrdom, are fused together in a reconstruction that gives prominence to their shared compositional dynamics. Both "Apollo and Marsyas" by Giovanni Battista LANGETTI and "The Martyrdom of St Erasmus" by Nicolas POUSSIN were destroyed in Dresden during the war. The first image depicts the story of the flaying of the satyr Marsyas after he loses a musical contest against Apollo. The legend is a metaphor of the triumph of intellect (symbolized by Apollo's stringed instrument) over sensuality (Marsyas' flute). POUSSIN transposes the religious scene of Erasmus' martyrdom (by the same means of flaying) into the same composition : a figure upside down that acts as a visual balance to the movement of the other. By working up preliminary collage studies created by cutting and pasting photocopies of the two images over each other, Nick DEVEREUX arrived at the design for the final work in oil on canvas which fused together the dynamics of the two original works, while freeing it of the original subject matter.
Surrogate
2010
charcoal on paper
132 x 177 centimeters
Unique
Nick DEVEREUX's works are based on an old technique, used for example by Diego VÉLASQUEZ in Las Meninas, which doesn't aim at creating a 'photo reality' but focuses on information perceived by the human eye, i.e. essentially volumes and light, giving an original answer to the conceptual question of representation. DEVEREUX applies this technique not to human beings or objects, but to small sculptures he makes from scraps of fabric and pieces of glass; non-figurative, these sculptures, when drawn with the technique described above, get animated with unsuspected life. With a strong visual impact, DEVEREUX's drawings stand on the edge between figuration and abstraction. Nick DEVEREUX often works within the format of classical genres, in this case mythology. More specifically the series Surrogate is a reconstruction of a work by Peter Paul RUBENS, one of several versions of Hercules and the Nemean Lion, which disappeared at the end of WWII -, questioning the notions of memory and posterity that are key in Nick DEVEREUX's work.
Surrogate II
2010
charcoal on paper
143 x 207 centimeters
Nick DEVEREUX's works are based on an old technique, used for example by Diego VÉLASQUEZ in Las Meninas, which doesn't aim at creating a 'photo reality' but focuses on information perceived by the human eye, i.e. essentially volumes and light, giving an original answer to the conceptual question of representation. DEVEREUX applies this technique not to human beings or objects, but to small sculptures he makes from scraps of fabric and pieces of glass; non-figurative, these sculptures, when drawn with the technique described above, get animated with unsuspected life. With a strong visual impact, DEVEREUX's drawings stand on the edge between figuration and abstraction. Nick DEVEREUX often works within the format of classical genres, in this case mythology. More specifically the series Surrogate is a reconstruction of a work by Peter Paul RUBENS, one of several versions of Hercules and the Nemean Lion, which disappeared at the end of WWII -, questioning the notions of memory and posterity that are key in Nick DEVEREUX's work.
Surrogate III
2010
charcoal on paper
132 x 202 centimeters
Unique
Nick DEVEREUX's works are based on an old technique, used for example by Diego VÉLASQUEZ in Las Meninas, which doesn't aim at creating a 'photo reality' but focuses on information perceived by the human eye, i.e. essentially volumes and light, giving an original answer to the conceptual question of representation. DEVEREUX applies this technique not to human beings or objects, but to small sculptures he makes from scraps of fabric and pieces of glass; non-figurative, these sculptures, when drawn with the technique described above, get animated with unsuspected life. With a strong visual impact, DEVEREUX's drawings stand on the edge between figuration and abstraction. Nick DEVEREUX often works within the format of classical genres, in this case mythology. More specifically the series Surrogate is a reconstruction of a work by Peter Paul RUBENS, one of several versions of Hercules and the Nemean Lion, which disappeared at the end of WWII -, questioning the notions of memory and posterity that are key in Nick DEVEREUX's work.
