21st Century Portraits
Group show
Absolute Art Gallery, Belgium
2017
Group show with a focus on portraiture in photography and painting. Portrait artists in this show: Nick Gentry, Marc Lagrange, Christine Comyn, Renaud Delorme, Julian Opie, Stéphane Halleux, Gerard Mas
Interview with Leah Cross for Dazed Digital
What interests you about ‘alternative media’?
The use of discarded objects allows me to build historical substance into the fabric of the work. I'm using records of people's lives to create a new identity. I like the idea that these personal memories and special moments can somehow be preserved.
The objects are physically unchanged, but the passage of time has altered the way we regard them. My portraiture is different to the traditional way of working, in that the choice of media forms the subject of each piece.
What lead to your interest in the fickle nature of modern technology?
By nature I like to look at things from a lot of different viewpoints. I'm captivated by the idea that everything is constantly changing.
Technology is something that we all grew up with, but my generation is a bit different as we are living at the exact tipping point that spans a great change in the way that technology influences our lives.
It's an exciting time and there is an element of mystery as we embrace technology. Nobody truly knows where it will take us.
Floppy disks are practically obsolete, as many other forms of technology will be in the future, is this something which should be brought to attention in a world so concerned with recycling amidst mass production?
It's amazing how humankind is forever 'progressing', yet we rarely find time to look back at things that were once considered important. Part of what defines a human is this unique and relentless drive to create.
In the face of consumerism it now feels as if there might be a movement happening in the reuse of old objects. People are upcycling and repurposing and it feels good to be a part of that inspiration for change.
What did you decide on first: the subject of your artwork (portraiture) or the medium (floppy disks)?
Faces have always held a certain fascination to me. It's what I started drawing as a child and now I'm really interested in this idea of an identity. It is something inside each of us, but we also show this face to the world.
Of course identities have now also extended into the digital realm, so we are living in this situation where people are expressing themselves in lots of different situations. We are now recording our lives digitally. The floppy disk represents the starting point for that and fits with that idea of a composite digital identity.
“Nick Gentry’s unique pieces combine his fascination with human faces with the constant progression of humankind.”
Recent exhibitions
