Melencolia

"I am not a photographer," says Bernard Voïta. Photography does not interest him so much as a technical medium, but rather as a means of perception, as a visual transformation of reality. In this regard, he indeed uses the camera to create his works. Around 1990, Voïta produced black-and-white photographs that caused a stir because they generated a unique reality without employing the usual techniques of manipulation and distortion. What initially appeared to be a montage or collage revealed itself upon closer inspection as a complex, three-dimensional installation in the studio, which only yielded a two-dimensional image from a very specific perspective—a meticulously composed image for which no real counterpart existed. Bernard Voïta, born in 1960 in Cully, has remained true to this approach to this day. Persistently and tirelessly, he has continued to explore his fantastic play with being and appearance, provoking new irritations of perception in various works. The series Melencolia, named after the famous engraving by Albrecht Dürer, is an elaborate, meticulously handcrafted long-term project that intellectually challenges while simultaneously awakening the viewer's curiosity.