propter nuptias
Miroir Noir began this project with the aim of exploring and representing the emotional tension of people during what they call "The happiest day of my life". Old-fashioned wedding portraits and the traditional wedding ceremony were the starting point, chosen for the following reasons:
In the first place, the strictly pictorial one. These black and white pictures have an embodied richness, as well as playing out some of the infinite possible variations on a few typical attributes that have represented European brides for the past two hundred years: the bride’s person, the white dress and veil, and the floral crown. A single portrait could be interesting as a psychological portrayal, a study in period clothes, and a still life.
Historical tradition and the advertising industry would have it that after the "Big Day", destiny should unfold itself principally in the pink tinted colours of the newly-wed. As the hours and days go by, reality often turns into a black and white banality, and the end result are the unique expressions of a darker reality. What looks like a handicap in life may become a potential meaning in art. An infinite scale of gray tones lies within that black-and-white everyday life. The monochromatic palettes of these works presuppose this range of meanings and colours.
Secondly, in iconographic terms the bridal portrait refers to purity and innocence, and particularly to the image of the Virgin Mary. It was soon discovered that these old black and white portraits, showing a cold Catholic imagery, led to very different results and interpretations. They shifted easily between contemplative saints and martyrs, or turned from prostitutes to Dead Brides or White Ladies (those spectral beings of Central European mythology which were supposed to be female spirits wandering the lakes and mountains after untimely death before a wedding, suicide after rape, or some other prenuptial tragedy).
Some of those paintings travelled around Europe and were exhibited in Munich, Madrid, Barcelona and Bratislava between 2013 and 2015.
In the first place, the strictly pictorial one. These black and white pictures have an embodied richness, as well as playing out some of the infinite possible variations on a few typical attributes that have represented European brides for the past two hundred years: the bride’s person, the white dress and veil, and the floral crown. A single portrait could be interesting as a psychological portrayal, a study in period clothes, and a still life.
Historical tradition and the advertising industry would have it that after the "Big Day", destiny should unfold itself principally in the pink tinted colours of the newly-wed. As the hours and days go by, reality often turns into a black and white banality, and the end result are the unique expressions of a darker reality. What looks like a handicap in life may become a potential meaning in art. An infinite scale of gray tones lies within that black-and-white everyday life. The monochromatic palettes of these works presuppose this range of meanings and colours.
Secondly, in iconographic terms the bridal portrait refers to purity and innocence, and particularly to the image of the Virgin Mary. It was soon discovered that these old black and white portraits, showing a cold Catholic imagery, led to very different results and interpretations. They shifted easily between contemplative saints and martyrs, or turned from prostitutes to Dead Brides or White Ladies (those spectral beings of Central European mythology which were supposed to be female spirits wandering the lakes and mountains after untimely death before a wedding, suicide after rape, or some other prenuptial tragedy).
Some of those paintings travelled around Europe and were exhibited in Munich, Madrid, Barcelona and Bratislava between 2013 and 2015.
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