Guillaume Dillée: Dystopia
French-born artist Guillaume Dillée paints landscapes that dissect the relationship between humankind and nature. Dillée’s move to Melbourne ten years ago has brought a new landscape for the artist to confront. In his exhibition Dystopia at Stockroom, Kyneton, Victoria, Dillée depicts a fragile environment, where humans and nature are perpetually at odds.
Guillaume Dillée works are a part of an expanding movement of local and international artists that have devoted their practice to detailing the devasting effects of climate change. Dillée paintings seek to dissect the relationship between humankind and nature. While artists such as David Buckland exhibit the widespread realities of climate change, Dillée isolates landscapes and targets elements that go seemingly unnoticed.
The artist grew-up in a family business of art valuators, Cabinet Dillée, which was established by grandfather in the 1920s. He studied art history at Institut National du Patrimoine, Paris, and exhibited his paintings regularly in Paris while working as an art valuer at Cabinet Dillée. In 2004 Dillée was awarded for his services to the arts the Ordre des Arts et des Letters (Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters), issued by the French Government.
During a family holiday to Australia the artist became “seduced” by the Australian landscape. “The Australian environment was a revelation of a unique palette of colours, light, shapes, biodiversity, flora, fauna, and natural disasters.” By 2014 the family decides to move to Melbourne.
In Dystopia, vibrant colours adorn the twenty-three works, with a high colour palette that captures the essence of the Australian landscape. Through the use of enamel, ink, and acrylic, Dillée creates fluid surfaces, to give that sense of movement to his works. Dillée manipulates perspective to draw viewers into his paintings, the lack of perspective highlights the vastness of the terrain, creating an almost dream-like landscape.
A key feature of Dillée’s paintings is the use of trompe-l’œil, particularly effective in works such as Euryale (toxic serie), 2023, and Dark Side (toxic serie), 2023. The artist propels the toxic plants forward, making them appear as if they are emerging from the canvas itself, emphasising the encroachment of harmful human activities into natural spaces but also serving as a reminder for nature’s potential for revenge and reclamation.
Dillée’s interest in historical subjects is also evident in his work. For example, his depiction of the Birdsville Hotel, in The Settlers Birdsville old pub, 2022, features a landscape where the hotel is plucked from its original location in remote south-west Queensland and nestled amongst a scenery that is almost ideal. It’s an odd painting within the exhibition because, unlike the accompanying works, it suggests a hopeful message that nature and humans can co-exist.
Dystopia blends a compelling narrative that challenges and encourages viewers to reflect upon their impact on the environment.
EXHIBITION
Dystopia
8 June – 14 July 2024
Stockroom, Kyneton, Victoria
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