From Jacques Réattu onwards, the reassuring ramparts of the Grand Priory have embraced works by artists who are conquered and fascinated by the power of this enduring site. Katerina Jebb is among those who have been moved by its appeal. Crossing the Réattu’s threshold in 2008, she was carried away by a world of Christian Lacroix’s creation. The sensuality of textiles, materials and colours came together in a glorious symphony at the hands of the Arles couturier, whose creative vision took possession of the whole of the museum’s exhibition space.
Since then, the works of Katerina Jebb have continued to gain meaning from the museum, most recently in a spectacular series of eight photographs entitled Untitled Icon - 1 to 8. In this work, she explores the singular aesthetic of a visual quest in which textiles and bodies mingle, composing mysterious floating idols wearing Christian Lacroix dresses.
Her exclusive use of a digital scanner appropriates a tool intended for industrial reproduction to lay down images that are free from one of art’s greatest advances: perspective. In Katerina Jebb’s work, the idea of three dimensional reproduction gives way to a hyperrealism of material and flesh.
