Constructed Vision

Constructed Vision

Blurring the lines between artificiality and reality, French practitioner Noémie Goudal (b. 1984), part of the Aesthetica Art Prize in 2015, combines sublime natural landscapes with staged interventions. By layering quiet, mysterious topographies with elements of monumental modernist architecture and surreal constructions, her portfolio of analogue photography and moving image offers an uncanny and introspective experience.

The video installations Tanker and Diver, which were longlisted for the Prize, feature ambiguous repetitive performances taking place in vast environments. Continuing to explore the liminal space between truth and fiction, the works represent society’s utopian aspirations. In the same year, Goudal’s first solo presentation was held at FOAM, Amsterdam. Entitled The Geometrical Determination of the Sunrise, the collection explored the physical and spatial relations of composition whilst questioning the consequences of human intervention.    

Also in 2015, a show at The Photographers’ Gallery, London, entitled Southern Light Station, demonstrated Goudal’s ongoing interest in manmade structures, whilst drawing upon a rich cultural history of myths, legends and religious iconography. Investigating the intangibility of spiritual space, the showcase held up a mirror to the terrestrial world.

This year, large solo shows run at Edel Assanti Gallery, London (from 10 May), The Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki (from 8 June) and Fotografiska, Stockholm (from September). The collection plays with notions of perception, causing viewers to question their senses. As the artist notes: “I find it interesting that our brains are so used to seeing perspective, that every time you offer a brain the possibility of seeing it, he takes it and it fills in the rest of the image. If you understand the construct of the photo, you can project yourself better into it and spend more time with it.”

The Aesthetica Art Prize, now open for entries, gives new and established artists the opportunity to share work with the international art world. With £5000 prize money, alongside a group show at York Art Gallery and publication in widely-read anthology, the initiative offers practitioners a platform to reach a global audience.

Submissions are open until 31 August. Find out more here.

Credits:
1..Noemie Goudal, Iceberg from Haven Her Body Was, 2012. Courtesty Edel Assanti London