Davide Quayola's Digital Landscapes Dissolve Van Gogh and Dutch Painting

Italian artist Davide Quayola presented 'Pleasant Places' (2015) at Glow Festival in Eindhoven, a project that digitally dissolves high-definition images of forests and shrubs into abstract, painterly fields. The work references 17th-century Dutch landscape painting and pays homage to Vincent van Gogh on the 125th anniversary of his death. Using image-analysis algorithms, Quayola alters and disintegrates details to create a 'familiar stranger' effect, where recognizable forms give way to alien, liquefied nature. The project includes photos, videos, and large installations made in Provence, a region that inspired van Gogh. Quayola's practice blurs the line between digital and natural, representation and abstraction, evoking both the vigorous brushstrokes of van Gogh and the meticulous detail of Dutch Baroque.