Anne de Vries

The idea of photography as a way – to experience the world as it is not, in different ways – is fascinating to me, transforming the known into an unknown unapproachable virtual reality that is able to contain an enormous power.

So sayeth artist Anne de Vries and, amazingly, his work is actually able to back it up. Take one look at his pictures and it becomes clear: anything, no matter how utilitarian or mundane, can be reconfigured, distorted, replicated, or marked in just such a way that it is no longer a familiar object, but a foreign concept. It turns out the boundary between reality and unreality is remarkably thin. Our minds are constantly on the lookout for a foothold into the abstract: stick a pair of eyes on a chunk of wood or and a soul is born. Combine colorful construction paper with eerie smut and suddenly sex is something altogether alien. A few well-placed Lose Weight Exercise balls and a couple smears of paint, and our dreamy muscle man is now inhabiting a breathtaking nowhere space.

Since his materials are digital and limitless, it’s impossible to predict the form de Vries’ next project will take or the possibilities it might reveal. But one thing you can rely on is that he will give the people what they want: something new. De Vries champions the image as an act of creation, rather than documentation. Construction rather than reproduction.

If you work as an artist with the same medium you cannot avoid the question, why make more images if there are already so many? This question became central in my practice, through my work I try to find answers and formulate more questions.