A new angle on Garston is the aim of artist Payot

Nov 10 2008 by Vicky Anderson, Liverpool Daily Post

RE-PRESENTATION is a site-specific installation by French artist Laurence Payot now on display at The New Slaughterhouse gallery in Garston.

The result of an ongoing, intricate examination into the conventions of landscape, Payot “re-presents” the view that is seen whilst looking out of the gallery windows and across the street, reflecting this back into the space from which it can be seen.

Š ‘‘Abandoned buildings and deserted streets are not an uncommon sight in Garston, and areas previously at the heart of the community are becoming more like ghost towns, vacantly sat waiting for life.ŠŠ

“The boards that now cover the windows and doors of these buildings conceal the histories that lay within; façades disguising what is actually there.

“Re-Presentation is at once a hyper-realist painting and a theatre set, placed in the French tradition of Trompe-l'oeil,” Payot said.

“Yet unlike the flat and illusionist style that typifies this technique, my landscape can be entered, the audience – like actors – invited to break the illusion and walk around my life-size set.ŠŠ

“This dilapidated portion of Garston reflected back on itself not only mirrors the scenery outside but also draws attention to the concealed situation in Garston.ŠŠ

“By mimicking a view that is usually overlooked we are forced to consider not only what is thought of as disregarded but the gallery setting itself. The best location to view this stage is from a distance, stood outside in the actual place that you wish to view”.Š

Laurence Payot was born in Metz in 1981 and graduated from the Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts de Lyon, with a degree in art in 2005.ŠŠShe currently lives and works in Liverpool.