Empty Quarter to host exhibition of acclaimed Swiss-French photographer, Corinne Vionnet

The Empty Quarter today announced that it will host “Photo opportunity”, an exhibition of the works of acclaimed Swiss-French Photographer, Corinne Vionnet at its gallery in the Gate Village at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The exhibition will open on Sunday, 12 April, 2009 and continue until 4 May, 2009.

“Photo opportunity” showcases a series of photographic works created with hundreds of snapshots of tourist locations obtained from the internet. By superimposing identical photographs of monuments, she creates impressionistic landscapes that have the visual feel of etchings.

The works explore sociological behaviour by looking at the representation and memory of spaces. They also seek to understand the complex association between tourism and visual culture.

Talking about the process of creating the images, Vionnet says: “For each place, I collected between 200 and 300 similar images, first through search engines and then from photo-sharing websites. From there, I used hundreds of photos with transparent effects to obtain this final result. For each image, only a part of the monument is chosen to link the hundreds of images – usually a segment that I find important or where there is the greatest similarity amongst the photographs. Taking the example of the Forbidden City in Beijing, the portrait of Mao is used as a meeting point for all the photographs. As for the rest of the image: come what may.”

Abdulla Bin Sougat, Chief Executive Officer of DIFC Lifestyle Group said: “Corinne Vionnet’s works are unique in their ability to invite the viewer into an exploration of sociological behavior while at the same time provide compelling images. Exhibitions of artists like Vionnet support DIFC Lifestyle Group’s efforts to enhance the cultural ambience within the Dubai International Financial Centre. Events such as these serve to create a vibrant creative and artistic environment within the financial district.”

Vionnet’s work can be found in numerous public and private collections in Canada, France, Spain, Italy and Switzerland. She has won several major international awards for her work. The artist currently lives and works in Vevey, Switzerland.