When were you first aware of Magritte?  Was he someone who you knew about as 
a child?

I grew up in the world of opera, which is a surreal thing in itself. My family were immigrants from Italy and we found ourselves in a very tough steel factory city of Hamilton, in Canada. So, it was very surreal being surrounded by opera and growing up in that kind of a city, very displaced from home. In Art collage I was able to go on a school trip to New York to tour the museums and that was where I saw the painting, The Lovers by Magritte. The couple was locked in a passionate kiss, but their faces were obscured by white scarfs. This created tension in the image. Then there was another painting too, The False Mirror. The title and image together provoke thought.

Yes, I know the one you mean.

It was a painting of an eye and where the iris would normally be there were clouds. It’s really beautiful and really impactful. I think those kinds of images open up the idea of possibilities, especially for a young art student. I realized that reality is not the only reality, which is why I love Surrealism so much. Finding magic and strange beauty in the unexpected and the unconventional. It really is a natural state of being for me, because I would be bored to death with reality!

Have you felt that the last couple of years have been particularly surreal?

Very. It actually makes me want to go even more surreal. Because now the surreal has encroached into my reality, it’s not as fun as it is in my head.

So, in terms of Magritte’s work specifically influencing yours, are there examples from your own projects that you can identify as having been impacted by him in particular?

Magritte used simple objects, objects we see and use every day. They become symbols. Symbols are the language of our subconscious, of our dreams. I use simple objects or ordinary situations and through combination, create extraordinary scenarios.

When you look at this particular work, L’Empire des lumières, what comes to mind?

The images depicts two paradox realities. You have a seamless, very classic composition, of a house. But when you study it, it’s almost as if Magritte has drawn a line horizontally, splitting the image within “time”. The top half of is daytime where perfect, puffy clouds sit on top of a powder blue sky. But the bottom half is a nocturnal view of the house with glowing light emanating from the windows. And you think, well, who’s lives in that house where night and day intermix? It makes me think of the cycle of a full day. I think he’s playing with the idea of time here.

A very cinematic approach?

Yes, it’s interesting because that makes this piece cinematic in a way. You can do that with a film camera, you’re playing with time constantly in cinema. Speeding through moments. This painting is like a collage of multiple moments captured in one image.

Something I was thinking is that connection between Magritte’s surreal house and the symbolism of houses, strange houses and interiors, which is a repeat motif in a lot of your work.

Yes, houses and places we live in are very interesting to me. We use them, but for a brief moments and then we die and other people come in and they use them and then they move on and so on… So, there’s this recycling of a home, it becomes a shell of people’s dreams, of lives lived. It’s very intriguing to me.

Past Auction

Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction

2 March 2022 | 5:00 PM GMT | London