2025 - Galleria Gagliardi, San Gimignano
Galleria Gagliardi is pleased to announce that on Sunday, 16th March 2025, will be inaugurated the solo exhibition by Louis Pratt and Nico Pietroni "A Very Dutch Ghost" at its space in San Gimignano (SI), which will end on Sunday, 13th April.
The exhibition is curated by Stefano Gagliardi.
A Very Dutch Ghost is an experiential sculptural work that combines art and science to extend the canon of an amorphosis in art. The observer forms part of the work, as the mediator between the sculpture and its reflection. This work exploits a law of physics that has never before been applied in art. The effect is unlike anything we have seen before: evoking qualities of the holographic, ghost-like and the ethereal. Arguably the most famous historical example of anamorphic art is the painting by Hans Holbein the younger called The Ambassador’s painted 1553. A Very Dutch Ghost, pays homage to this seminal workwhile also referencing Vincent van Gogh’s painting of askeleton smoking a cigarette. The installation comprises of a stainless-steel concave mirror and a bronze sculpture-ananamorphic distorted skull. The curvature and optic distortion of the mirror has been accounted for in the creation of the sculpture, so that the image in the reflection appears undistorted. At the same time, the reflected image seems to come towards us, and to move with us, appearing, in front, rather than inside the mirrored surfaced, as we would expect. This work builds upon Louis Pratt’s more than twenty-year exploration of anamorphic art, and his propensity to push the boundaries to create compelling and enigmatic sculptural works. The work has been developed through PhD research and collaboration with leading computer scientist and geometry processing specialist, Dr Nico Pietroni. The pair worked together to develop bespoke ray-tracing software that allows them to correct the distortion of objects caused by curved mirrored surfaces or transparent media. A Very Dutch Ghost explores art history and the illusory nature of perception, with an innovative approach to sculpture practice, which promises more exciting developments to come.
Exhibiting history
Nanda Hobbs gallery2022
SydneySydney Contemporary 2022
Sydney Art gallery of NSW2023 (Finalist of Wynne prize) (link)
Sydney Lennox st gallery 2023
Melbourne Toured (Wynne prize)2023–24NSW
Sydney Contemporary 2024 Sydney
Video
Bending light-the next generation of anamorphic sculpture (link)
Publications:
Reflections on Light: Developing New Methods for Producing Anamorphic Sculpture
MIT Leonardo 2023 (link)
Bending the light: Next generation anamorphic sculptures Computer and Graphics 2023 (link)