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BRUNO ROELS

HISTORICALLY, PALM TREES ARE CONNECTED TO VICTORY, TRIUMPH, ENDURANCE, RELIGION, HOSPITALITY, WEALTH, LUXURY, VACATION, PARADISE. BUT PALM TREES, JUST LIKE PHOTOGRAPHS, ARE NOT TO BE TRUSTED! A PALM TREE IN NICE, FRANCE DOES NOT TELL THE SAME STORY AS ITS COUNTERPART IN THE WARN-TORN STREETS OF FALLUJAH, IRAQ.

BRUNO V. ROELS USES ANALOG PHOTOGRAPHY TO CREATE IMAGES OF PARADISE. PLAYING WITH ICONIC IMAGERY, INCLUDING TREES, FLOWERS, CLOUDS & WAVES, HE RESEARCHES THE WAY HUMANS INTERPRET PHOTOGRAPHY. IT’S NOT JUST A VISUAL EXERCISE, IT SHEDS LIGHT ON THE STRONG INHERENT SEMANTIC AND PHILOSOPHICAL RAMIFICATIONS AS WELL.

BRUNO V. ROELS IS FASCINATED BY PALM TREES BECAUSE THEY CONVEY MULTIPLE MEANINGS.
HE USES THEM AS HE USES OTHER HIGHLY RECOGNIZABLE OBJECTS IN HIS WORK, AIMING TO GIVE A VERY TANGIBLE IDEA OF COPYING, MIMICKING, AND REPRESENTING. ALL PART OF THE VERY FABRIC OF PHOTOGRAPHY.

BRUNO V. ROELS (B. 1976) IS A BELGIAN ARTIST WHO LIVES AND WORKS IN ANWTERP.

ALL IMAGES © BRUNO V. ROELS
COURTESY GALLERY FIFTY ONE
WWW.BRUNOROELS.ART WWW.GALLERY51.COM
CURATED BY ANTHONY VACCARELLO