Musée des Arts Contemporains Grand-Hornu, Hornu, Belgium
May 2021
May 23–August 29, 2021 The Musée des Arts Contemporains Cento (2021), is a solo exhibition by James Welling, where he debuted his photographic work on architecture and ancient Greek and Roman statuary. The exhibition’s title, Cento, refers to the ancient practice of assembling fragments of various poetic or musical works. Welling’s current series, which began in 2018, captures photographic segments of ancient sculpture and architecture. He infuses his photographs with overlays of unnatural tones and tints, leading us to contemplate the poetics and conceptions of modern and archaic color. “Intense colors and gold leaf emphasized textile, hair and skin,” Welling explains in relation to Cento and its homage to Greek statuary. “Modern approximations of this polychrome are startling to viewers still accustomed to the colorless neoclassic ideals of beauty. But I was not interested in simply recreating the colors of the Ancient Greeks. Using digital technology, I applied highly unnatural colors to the sculptures. My hope is that these colors seep into the ancient stone and take on a life of their own.” The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue in the form of eight limited edition postcards with works selected by the artist from his Centro series. Learn more at the Musée des Arts Contemporains Grand-Hornu