João Vilhena: Through the eyes of the artist

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Those who have wandered through the rows and aisles of art fairs will recognize the overwhelming feeling of colors and forms fighting for your attention. Last February, after two intense days at ARCO, our vision may have blurred but we discovered João Vilhena whose work makes everything seem that much clearer.

Fouille courageuse (2015) / L'ancien coût des cures tisanes (2014), Courtesy Galerie Alberta Pane

 

 

Tell me about yourself?

I was born in Portugal and went on to study at the Villa Arson, the Beaux-Arts in Nice. I have been living and working in Paris for the past two and a half years.

I’m really an illustrator. The central theme of my work explores the Duchampian theory, through which the eye creates the work. This is why I’ve been working on a series of small A3 formats  for the past 15 years, reworking the trompe-l’oeil effect. I experiment with different areas of perspective. When we look at an image, we see certain signs that reveal our life, our journey and at the moment when the image is revealed, our aesthetic judgments can switch.

The trompe-l’oeil takes the form of postcards from the end of the 19th and early 20th century. They are shown so that we can imagine their fetishised side, under their frame. Once we realize that that the image has been constructed, it’s no longer an ancient object behind a frame, it becomes a fiction, and there is a shift in its perception and conception through our eyes.

 


Why postcards?

I think I was touched by this popular image, which should have disappeared. There was a widespread consumption of images by way of postcards that allowed us to connect with the stars of the time, actresses, courtesans, and images of Epinal, traditions, professions and from around 1850 we witness the appearance of photography.


L'écureuil sans air (2013) Courtesy Galerie Alberta Pane

 

Would you like to have lived during this time?

No, but this interests me. It’s the way in which all the subjects are treated, from pornography to tourism, and the First World War. But since the appearance of photography, it’s always the same subjects! It’s us, but 100 years ago. Same neuroses, same worries.

 


Do you take inspiration from other artists?

I love Velasquez, but I couldn’t mention any recent artists because we often have differences. Robert Longo is an illustrator whose work really interests me.
 

 

What’s happening next?

I would like to work on the theme of disappearing, around species disappearing, that we can’t see even in a zoo.