Natalie Shau "Camera Obscura" 2023

Opening night reception Feb 4th 6-9pm

Roq La Rue is pleased to present new work by Lithuanian artist Natalie Shau. Natalie has gained international attention over the past two decades for her distinctive melding of fashion and dark fantasy. She is a photographer and digital artist who in addition to award winning commercial work for clients, has also exhibited works in numerous galleries around the world. 
For this show, Natalie has created a series of framed 1/1 (meaning each print exists in an edition of only 1) prints exploring her latest foray into digital manipulation as an art tool using AI. This series is meant to speak to the concept of "post-photography", of creating "photographs" that could never actually exist in real life. To further reference the concept the subjects of her images are ghostly, ethereal models splashed in crimson touches. On first look they look like they could be in a high end fashion magazine, only to slowly reveal an alien-esque and slightly jarring unhuman and cold beauty.

“My "Camera Obscura” show is a collection of photographic looking AI generated images. A camera obscura was a device that was a predecessor of modern photography. In my opinion AI generated "photography" is one of the steps of evolution of post photography. The definition of photography has been changing rapidly since the moment it was invented. I feel currently we are living in times of post photography, where the subject can be altered and used as a canvas to create something that does not exist in real life. With the new medium of AI I tried to create completely imaginary fashion photo portraits that have the same impact as a "real" photograph. I invite you to observe these photographic fashion pieces, where the subject was not altered, but never even actually existed. That's why I chose very surreal ghost-like figures to make the impact even stronger.

The new technology of AI is very new and very controversial at this moment, it sparks a lot of debates, with both lovers and haters of this new tool, similar to how photography was very controversial when it was newly invented. It (the advent of photography) sparked a lot of arguments that it would destroy traditional painting, and in the end it impacted traditional art a lot in an unexpected way, as it released painters of duty to copy reality, and many new movements of painting emerged. I invite you to look at this collection not only for aesthetic pleasure, but more as a historic moment to see the new change in art history.” - Natalie Shau