The After-Image (Swan Songs)

The expression ‘swan song,’ is derived from the Greek myth that swans are mute, but burst into song just before they die. Over the ages the legend was embraced by poets and came to refer to an artist’s last work or performance: a final farewell appearance. In the context of this project, I explore the swan songs of a selection of artists and cultural figures who produced final works intimately connected with their deaths. The body of work is realized as a series of photographic encounters with the landscapes connected to these swan songs, selected for their poetic and political resonance. In an exhibition setting, the photographic images are interspersed with text, mounted as vinyl lettering on the gallery walls. The texts are an ongoing collection of citations from various writers who dedicated a period of their work to the study of the life-death relation.

Link to an exhibition review by Jérôme Delgado

Acknowledgements
This project is supported by the Fonds Québécois de la Recherche sur la Société et la Culture and le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec

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