Description
A distinguished French chemist, Henry Sainte-Claire-Deville, succeeded in obtaining aluminum in compact mass in 1854. This precious metal has numerous characteristics; it can possess the whiteness of silver or a wonderful golden warmth, the tenacity of iron, the fusibility of copper, the lightness of glass, and the unalterability of gold. It is easily worked and abundant in nature as it forms the basis of many rocks. Additionally, it is three times lighter than iron.
Given all these technical characteristics, I thought I could use it as an innovative painting support. I used it to paint a desert horizon, tactfully reproducing the texture of sand. By using plaster and marble dust, I recreated the typical aridity of dunes. With the fluidity of enamels, I painted a clear sky, leaving the surface of the golden aluminum visible and utilizing it as a background to evoke the warm desert atmosphere. I titled it “Rub’ al-Khali,” meaning “The Empty Quarter,” which is the largest sand desert in the world. It covers the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula.
“I have always loved the desert. You sit down on a sand dune. You see nothing. You hear nothing. And yet something shines in silence.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
- PAINTED ON ALUMINUM
- SIGNED AND DATED ON THE FRONT OF THE BACK
- IT IS SOLD READY TO HANG
