Éric du Bellay

ÉRIC DU BELLAY (Chatenay Malabry, France, 1980)
"Liberty or freedom water and fire", 2021.
Digital print on Hahnemühle paper. Copy 1/7. Limited edition.
Certificate of authenticity enclosed.
Signed and justified at the bottom.
Measurements: 73 x 58 cm; 57 x 41 cm (frame).
The artist himself describes this work as follows "The Libertad project was born directly from confinement, from that prolonged lack of freedom that we all experience. I posted an ad on the internet and, to my surprise, received over 500 positive responses from performers, the vast majority with no previous experience in nude sessions. This particular session was one of my favorites: on a high terrace of the Torre de Madrid, in Plaza de España, at sunset. The models, Julyn, Alejandro, Alejandro, Angela and Noelia, didn't know each other, but they threw themselves into the experience without reservation. The feeling of freedom was immense for everyone, and in such a stunning location. I remember a special moment: we had been running and jumping so much that the heat enveloped us. Suddenly, I saw a hose on the ground and said to them, "Come toward me, as if you were going to catch me." I sprayed their faces with the water in a fine mist that, under the sun, turned into a golden rain. It was a magical moment I will never forget."
Éric du Bellay took up photography at the age of 15. He unveiled his own black and white photos. From the beginning, his work focused on faces and bodies, as if he wanted to preserve the trace of the living. He left photography to pursue a career as a filmmaker. He made six short films in France and Iceland, and his first feature film, Menina Casilda, was shot in Madrid in 2021. He returned to photography in 2019 with his project Corps Vibrants, nudes made in studio in Paris, followed by his second project, Libertad, started in Madrid in 2021 as a response to the Pandemic restrictions. Influenced by the works of Marina Abramovic, Ren Hang, and Ryan McGinley, he explores representations of nude bodies in motion.