Arc-en-Ciel 0xD81EFD44 (2022) | Print on Dibond (60x90cm) #5/5 ー [click to view image] ー
ー Dialogues on abstract art ー Hors les Murs ]RN structure[
This July 5, 2025 should have been the opening of ]RN structure[‘s Hors les Murs exhibition at the “Espaço Cultural Niterói”, in the sumptuous Palácio dos Correios overlooking the Bay of Rio de Janeiro.
Unfortunately, due to administrative complications beyond even the most sincere motivations, this project had to be cancelled, despite the enthusiasm, perseverance and tenacity deployed to bring such a wonderful and prestigious exhibition to fruition.
When the wheels of bureaucracy fail to vibrate in unison with the noble idea that art knows no borders, we reach what I would call a form of state sclerosis.
We should have been 51 New Realities visual artists exhibiting from July 5 to August 16, 2025 in Brazil, in front of Christ the Redeemer, around the inspiring theme: “Dialogues on abstract art”. But it was not to be.
However, I’m happy to share with you the two photographic works I had prepared for this exhibition, which also failed to cross borders.
They have now joined the Artmajeur gallery, and I invite you to discover them in detail by clicking on each image. Artmajeur gallery | Éric Petr
I wish you a wonderful summer or winter for those of you in the southern hemisphere.
Abstract Angel 0x3866AD02 (2024) | Print on Dibond (23x15cm) #1/5 ー [click to view image] ー
Espaço Cultural Correios Niterói
Located in the heart of Niterói, overlooking the bay of Rio de Janeiro, the Espace Culturel Correios is one of the most emblematic venues on the Brazilian art scene.
Dedicated to the promotion of contemporary creation, this space actively supports emerging and established artists, both local and international. It is part of a dynamic of openness, intercultural dialogue and the dissemination of visual arts in all their forms.
By hosting ambitious exhibitions, residencies and off-site projects, the Centro Cultural dos Correios affirms its commitment to a lively, accessible and forward-looking culture.
I’m not a photographer specializing in URBEX (Urban Exploration), but I can be drawn to certain sites where I feel an extraordinary energy, which in this case compels me to record it and visually extract its trace, memory or presence.
I’m going to present two photographic narratives, one of which was taken at the bottom of the island of Koh Chang in Thailand, and the other on Hashima, an island off Nagasaki in Japan.
Koh Chang, Elephant Island and its Ghost Boat
This is a site invested by a local billionaire to create a highly original hotel complex, but built on a site that is sacred to the Thais.
In Thailand, many places are considered sacred: ancient cemeteries, sites of worship… Yet some have been redeveloped for real estate projects, such as Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport. However, the most prestigious Buddhist monks and priests generally take care to purify these places before any construction takes place.
In a way, it’s a request for permission from the deities to avoid offense.
Of course, if you don’t believe this nonsense, I recommend you stop reading immediately, or you’ll be wasting your precious time.
But the site I’m talking about wasn’t purified by the monks. So it became cursed, and a spell was cast.
We went there, however, and although we prayed at the Buddha altar on site, my wife, who was the investigator of this unusual epic, had an accident the very next day, and was deprived of the use of both her arms from the start of our stay. Rest assured, it was only for 6 weeks.
But the story doesn’t end there. We were accompanied by a couple of friends, and they too were injured a few days later: one in the knee, the other in the back.
Many would say it’s just a coincidence. Personally, I don’t believe in chance or bad luck. Life is much more complex than that.
Whatever the case, this place is imbued with a very special vibration that everyone can feel. And even if you’re standing by the beach, under the coconut palms, a strange, almost indescribable energy grips you and makes you dizzy.
To read the rest of the story and see the photographs, click here ….
Gunkanjima: The Warship and the Ghost Island of Hashima
Hashima is an island near Nagasaki, more commonly known as Gunkanjima, because of the shape it evokes: that of a warship. “Gunkan” means “warship”, and “Shima” or “Jima” refers to an island.
The island was a mining site from the end of the 19th century until the 1970s.
As mining operations expanded, more and more workers settled on the island—first the miners themselves, then their families, and later various professionals essential to maintaining the site. By the 1950s, Hashima had become a densely populated city, reaching an astonishing 85,000 inhabitants per square kilometer!
Now abandoned for almost 50 years, exposed to the dreaded weather of the East China Sea and frequent, merciless typhoons, the island has allowed itself to be overrun by nature.
Recently classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the mining town is no longer accessible for security reasons, but visits are still possible in small groups in certain authorized parts of the island.
To read the rest of the story about Hashima Island and see the photographs, click here ….
About the G-Lake Art Gallery at the Guihu Museum of Art・桂湖美术馆
The Guihu Art Museum is located in Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian province. It is committed to exploring the connotation of local Fujian culture in depth, and to presenting various academic research and artistic practices in a variety of exhibition formats. In addition to the exhibition, the Guihu Art Museum will also organize various special lectures, salons, workshops and literary fashion activities, and is equipped with independent libraries, public classrooms and cafés.
The art museum has long supported Fujian’s new generation of artists and cooperated closely with local art lovers and cultural and rural groups. It has also regularly invited art groups, artists, curators, designers and writers from outside Fujian province and around the world to make resident creations in Fujian. At the same time, the art gallery will also actively promote cultural exchange across the Strait.
Images and architectural presentation of the Guihu Art Museum
VARIATIONS DE LUMIÈRE OPUS 5 Photographic triptych 2021 (33x150cm) Copy #2/3 (+1 EA)
This opus is a continuation of a reflection on the essence of light and its effect on the perception of Being in its immediate or cosmic environment.
Light fascinates me by the duality of its state, at once corpuscular and undulatory, but also for everything that makes it our perception of the world.
My ” Variations de Lumière “, arranged by opus, present images born of my observation of light, revealing the gap in perception between the photographed reality and the photographic record.
It’s a metaphor, but I’d say that the medium of photography is particularly well-suited to this study, because the photons that strike my negative, materialized by impact points on the emulsion layer of silver halide crystals, or on the low-pass filter of a sensor, describe the corpuscular nature of light during the shooting phase.
Similarly, this material, used as a material, underlines the wave-like nature of light, when these impacts on the negative become oscillations on the paper.
From this observation of photons recorded at a moment ” T ” in their infinite course through the cosmos, at a precise point in the universe, comes this writing of light.
Variations of Light opus 7 | Quantum entanglement (2024) detail [Click to enlarge image]
This work is the fruit of a reflection developed for a project of three exhibitions (2024〜2025) by UNESCO’s CNFAP [Conseil National Français des Arts Plastiques] as part of its “Dialogues” program, conducted in close collaboration with the CIAE [Center for research on art and the environment] of the UPV [Polytechnic University of Valencia] , two entities dedicated to the creation and dissemination of the visual arts.
” AVANT LA LETTRE ” is the title of the theme of this interdisciplinary exhibition, which expresses the concept of the project.
「 We want to take the lead on something that’s not yet defined. The point is to establish a relationship between what is written and its visual representation. In the same way that the avant-garde introduced words and typography as plastic elements in artistic work. With this intention, we will link this project with that one: “Artistic narrative as integral to a message. Connections between contemporary artists who use words”. The theme of this exhibition implies the use of words and letters in the work, as carriers of a conceptual or visual message, or as a plastic element in itself, in order to convey a message “avant la lettre”. 」 Curator
THE PROJECT
The artist will create two original works.
・Artwork n°1 : Visual or conceptual representation of a word that may or may not appear written in the work. This will be a free-format work, inspired by the proposed theme, ranging in size from 20 to 120 cm high and 20 to 70 cm wide. Depending on the exhibition space, this work will be exhibited alongside the second or placed separately. The two works should form a coherent whole.
・Work #2: Visual or conceptual representation of a letter. This second work is in the imposed A5 format in the horizontal direction, whose image could be smaller in size or occupy the entire surface of the paper. The support will always be flexible, as for the first work.
The first of the three exhibitions will take place at La Casa de la Cultura José Peris Aragó in the Alboraya district of Valencia (Spain) from November 15 to December 13, 2024
Variations of Light opus 7 | Quantum entanglement (2024) : Kakemono Washi Kozo 42 x 21 cm and Plexiglas A5 [Click to enlarge image]
This diptych is an interactive installation featuring a Japanese paper kakemono and printed transparent Plexiglas, which interact with each other and the viewer.
These two objects can be placed one on top of the other, next to each other, or separately in space.
Entanglement is the title of this opus 7, and in quantum mechanics means, and I quote: ” Entanglement, or quantum entanglement, is a phenomenon in which two particles form a linked system and exhibit quantum states dependent on each other, regardless of the distance separating them. “
Variations of Light opus 7 [Click to enlarge image]
Variations of Light opus 7 [Click to enlarge image]
The space between the two components of the work is the energy they emit between them, as if we had on one side the energy of the word, the signifier and the meaning, and on the other the energy of the letter, which in its uniqueness takes on another meaning that echoes that of the word.
In this installation, the letter “O” sits perfectly at the center of the word “HEART”, but also anywhere in the space. It’s the viewer who, by simply moving the Plexiglas, will feel the energy change as the two components move apart.
In this installation, polysemy adds an unexpected depth to the meaning of the signifier and, by analogy, also expresses the “CHORUS”, i.e. the architectural heart of a place of belief, where the ” BEING”, since the most ancient times, has come in search of that oneness with the cosmos.
This installation also shows that thought, before it expresses itself in letters and words, is also a form of light writing, a primary but not primitive form of writing.
「 Éric PETR, born in the 60s, worked in the 80s, and later, in the early 2000s, on the image set in motion with an artistic intention using a camera.
This technique was named several years later “Intentional Camera Movement”, taken up by the hashtags #icm or #icmphotography and is today widely taken up by many talented young photographers.
Following the dynamics of several photographers and visual artists who preceded him, such as Kōtarō Tanaka (1905-1995), Ernst Haas (1921-1986), and Alexey Titarenko (born in 1962) of his generation and a few other experimentalists, PETR in turn experimented with this artistic path mainly between 2003 and 2015. Unlike his peers, he made it the heart of his photographic work.
For about ten years, PETR has created a movement and a technique that allow him to serve his intention and his research work on light. This technique, which he calls [Insitu Kinetic Photography], is the basis of his work, and has allowed him to set up many works that he has experimented with, particularly in abstract photography or subjective abstraction photography.
PETR began his career as a professional photographer in 2013 after 20 years of photographic research. After having caught the attention of some contemporary art players, between 2011 and 2014 where he assembled a synthesis of his work on light on his Blog and Instagram, he began in 2016 to be revealed in some prestigious magazines, such as L’OEIL DE LA PHOTOGRAPHIE, to be exhibited at the SALON DES RÉALITÉS NOUVELLES and to be published by Éditions CORRIDOR ÉLÉPHANT with his first monograph “SPIRITUELLES ODYSSÉES”. Since then, PETR has chained publications and exhibitions in Paris, and in the World. 」
“in situ kinetic photography” first principle of a manifesto
I started practicing photography in 1983, and for ten years I had this idea of developing a research and aesthetic based on light, and the impact that light can have on our mind, our thoughts, and our perception of the universe.
I resumed this work in 2003, after taking a break from photography between 1993 and 2003. Nevertheless, my reflection on the image nourished this period of inactivity, which subsequently proved very rich and constructive for my photographic work.
Ten years later, in 2003, after thinking long and hard about the image, its role and its power, I continued my photographic work on light, as plastic or matter, with a fresh eye.
“Bangkok 2oo4” and other works from the same period show a body of work that drew inspiration from this time of reflection, introspection and maturation.
In this new era of digital imaging, this style of photography was not yet precisely named, but a decade later it was, under the name ICM (Intentional Camera Movement).
In the 20th century, some photographers devoted part of their work to this technical aspect of motion photography, such as, to name but a few, Kōtarō Tanaka (1905-1995), Ernst Haas (1921-1986), and Alexey Titarenko (b. 1962), who worked specifically on moving crowds.
In the early 2000s, my work on the moving image, with the idea of painting with light on my film or sensor, is very contemporary in approach, and remains on the bangs.
My work, which is based on the principle of intentional movement, has now evolved to bring a broader field to the ICM, which I call “in situ kinetic photography”. “In situ kinetic photography” brings a wider field to the “intentional camera movement” and takes into account different axes and planes, in situ, for the same exposure that oscillates from a few seconds to a few minutes.
“In situ kinetic photography” is similar to the ultrasound of a place that is produced like a micro-film, but which is recorded on a single image. It is therefore neither multiple exposures nor post-processing work. Its photography is part of the field of abstraction, or subjective abstraction. Its writing is done with light and photons constitute its alphabet. Its language is cosmic, its style dreamlike and its aesthetic plastic. This photography is similar to painting in the sense that it is constructed on site by composing the elements that are added to the image.
The brush or pencil is the light ray that contains the matter and energy of electromagnetic waves, while the canvas or paper is the film or the camera sensor. Unlike the painter or the calligrapher, it is not the brush that moves, but the support, that is to say the camera. It is also, in this sense, that the intention of “in situ kinetic photography” is in no way that of “light painting”, even if we can observe certain common points.
For this photograph, composed in situ, elements very dispersed on the site are carefully chosen to compose a photographic painting. After an analysis of the times allowing the addition of the elements to be photographed, the photographer will have to determine precisely the speed of the shutter, the aperture of the focal length, and the sensitivity of the film, according to any filters added.
For “in situ kinetic photography”, the intention is no longer movement, as in “intentional camera movement”, but that of constructing an abstract image with a plastic density that will suggest the superposition of quantum states of a geographical point that light crosses during its infinite odyssey.
Variations of Light opus 5 [click on the image to enlarge it]
I’m delighted to announce my participation in the Réalités Nouvelles Hors les Murs exhibition in Shenyang, China!
§ – § – §
抽象融合 – ABSTRACT CONVERGENCE
学米支持 ACADEMIC SUPPORT 奥利维尔 -迪埃-皮齐奥 OLIVIER DI PIZIO 艺未总临 ARTISTIC DIRECTOR 徐比莉 EMILY XU
策展人：甄熙 COMMISSARIAT：ZHENXI
14.09 〜 17.11.2024
法国新现实协会 艺术家群展 EXHIBITION BY ARTIST COLLECTIVE RÉALITÉS NOUVELLES – PARIS
展覧地点｜SHOWROOM 沈阳市铁西区兴华北街8号 1905文化创意园1905艺术空间
Click on each image to enlarge
ABOUT MY ARTWORK
VARIATIONS DE LUMIÈRE OPUS 5 Photographic triptych 2021 (33x150cm) Copy #2/3 (+1 EA)
This opus is a continuation of a reflection on the essence of light and its effect on the perception of Being in its immediate or cosmic environment.
Light fascinates me by the duality of its state, at once corpuscular and wave-like, but also for everything that makes it our perception of the world.
My “Variations de Lumière” (Variations of Light), arranged by opus, are images born of my observation of light, revealing the gap in perception between photographed reality and the photographic record.
It is a metaphor, but I would say that the medium of photography is particularly well-suited to this study, because the photons that strike my negative, materialized by impact points on the emulsion layer of silver halide crystals, or on the low-pass filter of a sensor, describe the corpuscular nature of light during the shooting phase.
Similarly, this material, used as a material, underlines the wave-like nature of light, when these impacts on the negative become oscillations on the paper.
From this observation of photons recorded at a moment “T” in their infinite course through the cosmos, at a precise point in the universe, comes this writing of light.
In my work, light is not always the source of its presence.
It’s also a reflection on the light that leads me to construct images, which by its absence, calls out to us in our confrontation with nothingness.
It is these deep blacks that reveal her, as much as our eye can become accustomed to restoring her presence in the evanescent appearance of forms produced by our mind.
Look closely at these images. They’ll reveal their secrets. There are multiple levels of interpretation.
The photographs are taken in such a way that shapes and silhouettes seem to move under the effect of our retina. Details change too, depending on the angle of view or the focus of our eye.
Perception therefore changes, depending on how we look at it, how bright it is, how much attention or concentration we bring to it, and the state of mind we’re in when we look at the image.
These photographs, taken with a Nikon F3, mounted with a Nikkor 50mm f1.4 or 105mm f2.5 lens and Kodak film, bear witness to my highly creative period in the ’80s. They show, in successive order: the beach at Le Lavandou, the outside fire escape at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, and a broken window in the former wasteland of Les Halles de la Villette in Paris.
The first silver photograph was a precursor to the work I’m still doing today. Taken at night, on the beach at Le Lavandou, with an exposure time of around 15 minutes, and shot at 720°, it recreates the electromagnetic atmosphere of a vacation and party spot, its beach, the black reflections of the sea and the rolling of the waves, the lights of boats, stars, the moon, coastal lighthouses and bars still barely lit.
A LONG-TERM COURSE… “who goes slowly, goes healthily”!
I took up photography in 1983, and spent ten passionate years with the idea of developing research and aesthetics based on “pure” light, and the impact it can have on our mind, our thoughts, or our perception of the universe.
The research I had begun on this subject was halted in 1993 by the upheaval caused by the arrival of digital technology in the world of photography.
It wasn’t until 10 years later, in 2003, after giving a great deal of thought to the image, its role and its power, that I took up this reflection and work again, using two media: digital and film photography.
In 2013, I opted to set up a company to develop this work over the long term.
Today, I exhibit and show my work in Paris, Europe and abroad.
Are you interested in following my work, discovering my new creations, and receiving invitations to my openings? You can register at this link: https: //www.ericpetr.net/contact/
These images were created at the heart of the Nebuta Matsuri held in Nakano in October 2023.
Aomori Nebuta Matsuri is a major festival in the Tōhoku region, designated as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.
It is an incredible parade of costumed dancers (haneto 跳人), taiko 太鼓 players and huge floats, shimmering in color and lit up at night.
As a sign of support for this region of northeastern Japan, which was devastated by the terrible earthquake of 2011, Nakano Town Hall in Tōkyō has been organizing its own festival since 2012 under the name “Nakano Festival to Support Tōhoku”, where Aomori’s Nebuta Matsuri takes place in October every year.
“It is a wave that you feel deep inside your body. The drums beating with all their power, the crowd in effervescence, the colorful dances, sometimes jerky and sometimes delicate, the flute tunes that pierce this orderly din, everything is so energetic that the senses are sucked into this whirlwind of fervor. In the midst of this bubbling, it seems as if this visual and sonic material is melting together. Letting myself be carried along by the current of this lively crowd, I try to capture, with my camera, this exaltation, this bubbling mass of individuals gathered for this marvelous festival. Here and there, with long breaths from my shutter, I record faces, hands, colors, dancers, percussionists in action, and all this visual material accumulates in successive layers on my sensor, like those of a painter on his canvas, to restore all the density and depth of the scene. These eighteen photographs are excerpts from the sixty that tell the poetic story of Aomori’s Nebuta Matsuri.“
You can enlarge the image by zooming[Ctrl] and [+]
