Chili 2011. A sensual setting in a beautiful modernist garden. A naked woman approaches graciously the swimming pool. As she gets in and swims slowly towards the other side, her body seems to be reshaped in the water. As she comes out and disappears out of sight, we see a different woman, another body. Symbol of fertility, women assume an important role in society, especially in culture and art. Unlike men, women are typically capable of giving birth and thus closely connected to the earth and Mother Nature. The ancients believed that the Moon and its lunar phases was the representative of the Triple Goddess and her three incarnations: maiden, woman and crone. 

At first sight, when we look at these images, we think to be looking at photos or stills. Only when we look closer and longer, we discover slowly moving images. By splitting an image into a thousand images, high-speed photography allows Kurt Stallaert to show more than one reality at the same time. He calls these images ’moving stills’.

part of installation for Minimuseum for gallery Ronny Van De Velde

Kurt Stallaert realized an intimate and unique motion portrait of singer-songwriter Jay-Z, at a secret location in New York city. In a setting which Kurt and Jay decided together, Kurt captured an elegant and timeless portrait of the rapper, evoking an undefinable air of passion and crime. In a gloomy New York room, filled with smoke and silence something is about to happen. Or maybe it already happened? No sound, only smoke. A man, a woman and a dog moving dreamy and in slow motion through a living room. Documentary or voyeurism? Forced to look over and over again, trying to get the picture, we perceive an uncomfortable silence and mystery. A certain suspense overcomes. The spectator, at first only eyewitness, gets unavoidable involved in this thrilling story and becomes a suspect, a partner in crime. 

King of the universe and the sky, the eagle has the power to rise above the regular and the material and see the spiritual. Therefore he is the beholder of the balance between Heaven and Earth, the divine and the terrestrial. The eagle represents great power and covers protection at the same time. He brings personal strength, courage and knowledge. He reminds us of our connection with the spirits and reminds us that the universe is giving us the opportunity to fly above the shadow of past realities and develop personal power and freedom. When the eagle spreads his wings, everything around becomes silent and nature stops its everyday life. What’s left is nothing more but the sound of the eagle.

This series suggests an imaginary world with a powerful twist (literally). At first glance, his images may look common: people in daily surroundings. But when you look closer you’ll notice the surreal twist!

While investigating the images you’ll discover a dreamy and unknown universe that seems only little familiar but yet entirely in-existent. A world that is both realistic and surreal but above all queer. Kurt’s eye for beauty, detail, humour and drama culminates in a tangible tension in each of these images. We may sense that these bodybuilders want to tell us something but their message has gone numb, leaving us completely surprised and staggered, trying to imagine what’s going on behind the curtains.

It’s a world that seduces the spectator to look twice and is only a reference to the photographic truth. Does reality lie here in authenticity of representation or in authenticity of emotion? They seem to balance eternally between attraction and rejection, between reality and surreality, human and superhuman. But opposites attract. Once you’ve looked at these bodybuilders, they never let you go again!

This series suggests an imaginary world with a powerful twist (literally). At first glance, his images may look common: people in daily surroundings. But when you look closer you’ll notice the surreal twist!

While investigating the images you’ll discover a dreamy and unknown universe that seems only little familiar but yet entirely in-existent. A world that is both realistic and surreal but above all queer. Kurt’s eye for beauty, detail, humour and drama culminates in a tangible tension in each of these images. We may sense that these bodybuilders want to tell us something but their message has gone numb, leaving us completely surprised and staggered, trying to imagine what’s going on behind the curtains.

It’s a world that seduces the spectator to look twice and is only a reference to the photographic truth. Does reality lie here in authenticity of representation or in authenticity of emotion? They seem to balance eternally between attraction and rejection, between reality and surreality, human and superhuman. But opposites attract. Once you’ve looked at these bodybuilders, they never let you go again!

This series suggests an imaginary world with a powerful twist (literally). At first glance, his images may look common: people in daily surroundings. But when you look closer you’ll notice the surreal twist!

While investigating the images you’ll discover a dreamy and unknown universe that seems only little familiar but yet entirely in-existent. A world that is both realistic and surreal but above all queer. Kurt’s eye for beauty, detail, humour and drama culminates in a tangible tension in each of these images. We may sense that these bodybuilders want to tell us something but their message has gone numb, leaving us completely surprised and staggered, trying to imagine what’s going on behind the curtains.

It’s a world that seduces the spectator to look twice and is only a reference to the photographic truth. Does reality lie here in authenticity of representation or in authenticity of emotion? They seem to balance eternally between attraction and rejection, between reality and surreality, human and superhuman. But opposites attract. Once you’ve looked at these bodybuilders, they never let you go again!

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