Vintage and electro, the winning work of the Swiss Life Prize for 4 hands captivates Arles all summer

A single, eccentric woman poses in the ghostly setting of an off-season seaside resort. A captivating sound creation, with electro and vintage accents, accompanies the visitor in this wandering that is both joyful and melancholy. Combining images and sound in a very cinematic perspective, Last Paradise results from a project developed by photographer Kourtney Roy (born in 1981) and composer Mathias Delplanque (born in 1973), winners of the 6th edition of the Swiss Life Prize for 4 hands.

Between reality and fiction

In December 2023, a jury composed of experts in the fields of photography and music, as well as representatives of Swiss Life, selected this duo from eight finalist pairs. Last February, Kourtney Roy and Mathias Delplanque went to Italy, to Rimini, where they soaked up the almost surreal atmosphere of Fellini’s hometown, emptied of the hordes of vacationers who invade it in summer.

For two weeks, the Canadian photographer and filmmaker produced a series of self-portraits in the streets, by the beach, at tourist sites (miniature Italy, the aquarium, etc.). “ I was walking around with my wigs, my clothes. I took pictures like small performances », explains Kourtney Roy, whose sophisticated aesthetic, with saturated colors, testifies to her admiration for the urban landscapes of Stephen Shore, the fashion photos of Guy Bourdin, the films of David Lynch.

An original soundtrack

For his part, Mathias Delplanque – author of around forty albums and sound creations for dance, theater, cinema, etc. – was interested in the past of Rimini which, in the 1970s, was a high- place of production of synthesizers. “ I used old keyboards, distorted sounds that I mixed with the sound of waves, birdsong, the clicking of heels on a sidewalk… I wanted to create a “sound space” somewhere between giallo film music and easy-listening, a club atmosphere at six in the morning, with lounge music that was too slow… », explains the composer.

Created in 2014 and organized every two years, the Swiss Life Prize at 4 hands is the only one in France to support an original project combining photography and music. Beyond a significant endowment (each artist receives a grant of €15,000 and €8,000 intended to cover their production costs), the Swiss Life foundation offers its lucky winners a beautiful spotlight on the fruit of their collaboration .

Discover the extracts from Last Paradise de Mathias Delplanque

Beautiful Riva

Rock Island

Three exhibitions, a book, a record

Thought like an imaginary road trip, Last Paradise benefits from an exhibition in three stages. L’Aire d’Arles opens the show this summer, with around fifteen images by Kourtney Roy accompanied by a thirty-minute sound loop concocted by Mathias Delplanque. The project will then be presented in the two venues of the Jeu de Paume in 2025, successively in Paris and Tours. Finally, Filigranes editions are publishing a work which brings together all of the seventy photographs produced by Kourtney Roy in Rimini, as well as a 45 rpm vinyl by Mathias Delplanque on which two short unpublished pieces are recorded.

“Swiss Life Prize with 4 hands. Last Paradise. Kourtney Roy and Mathias Delplanque »
L’Aire d’Arles, 25 rue Porte de Laure, 13200 Arles
from July 1 to September 29

Jeu de Paume, 1 place des Tuileries, 75001 Paris, from February 7 to 28, 2025

Jeu de Paume-château de Tours, 25 avenue André Malraux, 37000 Tours, from June 13 to September 13, 2025

A live performance is also planned at the Art Rock Festival in Saint Brieuc, from June 6 to 8, 2025