Watching a sunset: this is one of the most ordinary and yet magical experiences there is. Who has never admired these moments when, imperceptibly, from one second to the next, black wins over pink, the sun sinks behind the horizon and night covers the world? Mustapha Azeroual, in Arles this summer, invites you to experience a small miracle of the same order, by taking shelter in a contemplative “oasis” nestled in the heart of the festival hustle and bustle. At the Saint-Trophime cloister, the winner of the BMW Art Makers 2024 prize (won in duo with curator Marjolaine Lévy) is installing two immense panopticons, 4.40 meters long and 2 meters high, which immerse the viewer in gradients of vibrant and shimmering colors. An inventory of the colors of the sky collected above different seas of the world: in the Arctic, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean…
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Faced with this spectacle, no visitor will see exactly the same thing: the images are printed using a lenticular process, often used in advertisements. Each point of the image is a lens containing twenty-four colors, which are revealed depending on the angle of view, constantly inventing a new sky. “It is a device that integrates movement, and thus allows us to recreate the experience of color perception, explains the artist. Because we all see colors differently.”
With The Green Ray (“the green ray”), the title of this hypnotic work, Mustapha Azeroual thus combines conceptual approach and sensitive experience, abstraction and emotion. So many aspects inherent to the work of this singular artist, who likes to construct complex images, which move away from or even break with the idea of the simple representation of the world to which photography is often confined. “Photography interests me less as an image than as a language”he sums up in his absolutely calm workshop, located in the heart of the city, in Tours.
Physical experiments
Each of his projects has allowed him to tackle a theoretical question specific to photography. The series Echo dug into the representation of light, by definition invisible. Ellios studied the role of the sun. Phenomenon questioned the support of images. And Radiance (dont The Green Ray is a sequel) looked at how to capture variations in color – knowing that the camera cannot “see” like the eye. “I always start with an idea, and the form comes later.says the artist, who strives to create works that are physical experiences. We can approach this work theoretically, but also in a purely aesthetic way – it’s beautiful and it feels good!”
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