24.05 - 21.09.25
dans la salle
Ruud van Empel. A Perfect World
The exhibition A Perfect World by Ruud van Empel, a Dutch photographer born in 1958, explores a fascinating universe where realism and idealism combine. Known for his works that create captivating and mysterious visual worlds, van Empel uses a meticulous digital pasting technique to assemble thousands of photographic fragments like a mosaic, pro- ducing images that seem both real and surreal, with every detail carefully thought out and executed.
The exhibition highlights several of the artist’s emblematic series, including his portraits of children and young adults, often surrounded by lush nature, inspired by 19th century Dutch pastoral painting. The innocent faces and perfect landscapes immerse the viewer in a serene atmosphere, tinged with a slight uneasiness, inviting them to question the reality of these images.
Ruud van Empel transcends the traditional boundaries of photography. His works are not captures of moments, images taken in their entirety, but complex constructions that tell stories and arouse deep emotions, steeped as they are in childhood memories.
Until the mid-1990’s, van Empel used traditional pasting techniques for his photographic assemblages. In 1995 he adopted a digital process, using the computer to create his conceptual photographs. This transition marked a turning point in the history of art photography, redefining the possibilities of the digital medium. By drawing on his vast stock of digital photos that he has taken, van Empel has created a new photographic trend, which he describes as the ‘construction of a photographic image or photographic objects’.
The camera remains at the heart of his practice, providing the basic elements of his compositions constructed down to the smallest details.
The exhibition A Perfect World invites visitors to explore the utopian worlds created by van Empel. Each photograph is a window onto a parallel universe, where apparent perfection often conceals darker areas. This duality of beauty and mystery is at the heart of his work, making this exhibition a unique opportunity to discover how digital photography can generate timeless and idealised realities.
Biography
Ruud van Empel was born in Breda in 1958. After graduating (1981) from AKV St. Joost in Breda, he moved to Amsterdam.
Van Empel began creating artworks based on the technique of photo collage, using analogue photography and photocopiers, and later digital image processing. Van Empel received commissions for the famous television duo Theo and Thea. He designed sets for De Flessentrekrevue and was the artistic director of the feature film Theo et Thea et le démasquage de l’empire du fromage d’orteil (Theo and Thea and the unmasking of the cheese toe empire). The Study in Green (2003-2004), Untitled (2004) and the closely related World, Moon and Venus series have earned him worldwide recognition. The American breakthrough also led to attention from museums and acquisitions in the Netherlands. Ruud van Empel has received several awards during his career, including the Sint Joost Award (1981), the Charlotte Kolher Award (1993), the H.N.Werkmann Award (2001) and the Breda Oeuvre Award (2013). Ruud van Empel’s works are part of important collections, notably those of the Rijksmuseum and the Groninger Museum, the Museum Voorlinden, the George Eastman House in Rochester (NY), the Generali Foundation in Vienna, the FNAC Collection in Paris, the Sir Elton John Photography Collection in London and the MoPA Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego.
