Duncan Wylie's Layered Ruins: Painting as Geological Process
Duncan Wylie, born in 1975 in Harare, Zimbabwe, and currently residing in Paris, produces intricate paintings that incorporate press photographs alongside personal images of devastation and ruins, such as those from Gaza, Ground Zero, post-earthquake Haiti, and a village affected by a tsunami. His works feature layers that can exceed two centimeters in thickness, adding depth and inviting viewers to engage without telling a specific story. Since around 2005, Wylie has shifted his focus from kaleidoscopic visuals to themes of disaster, connecting personal experiences from Zimbabwe to broader universal narratives. His recent solo exhibitions include the French-Made Gallery in Munich (2004), Maison des arts et de la culture in Créteil (2005), and Musée de Grenoble (2009).
Key facts
- Duncan Wylie was born in 1975 in Harare, Zimbabwe, and lives and works in Paris.
- His paintings are built through successive layers of images depicting ruins and disasters.
- Sources include press photos and his own photographs of Gaza, Ground Zero, post-earthquake Haiti, a tsunami village, and a Saint-Ouen parking lot.
- Paint thickness sometimes exceeds two centimeters.
- Until around 2005, his work used kaleidoscopic collisions of images; now the collision principle is legitimized by disaster themes.
- The destruction in his work parallels the destruction of the image as screen and illusion.
- Anne Malherbe, art critic and curator of Sortilège at Fondation Salomon (2009), wrote the article.
- Recent solo shows include French-Made Gallery, Munich (2004); Maison des arts et de la culture, Créteil (2005); Virgil de Voldère Gallery, New York (2007); Galerie Dukan & Hourdequin, Marseille (2008); and Musée de Grenoble (2009).
Entities
Artists
- Duncan Wylie
- Gustave Moreau
- Anne Malherbe
Institutions
- Fondation Salomon
- French-Made Gallery
- Maison des arts et de la culture
- Virgil de Voldère Gallery
- Galerie Dukan & Hourdequin
- Musée de Grenoble
- artpress
Locations
- Harare
- Zimbabwe
- Paris
- France
- Munich
- Germany
- Créteil
- New York
- United States
- Marseille
- Grenoble
- Gaza
- Ground Zero
- Haiti
- Saint-Ouen
Sources
- artpress —