Butterflies, Eyes, and Fish, 1988–2023

For the past fifty years or so, visual artist Bertrand Gadenne has been exploring various forms of photography—particularly projection—in his work. Inspired by our natural environment, his art invites us to reconsider our relationship with the world.

The Butterflies offers a tactile experience of photography. Bertrand Gadenne subverts the traditional use of slide projection by mounting the projector vertically at a high elevation. The viewer is invited to intercept the beam of light with their hands, which, acting as a screen, reveal the invisible image on the floor. As the hands move, the butterflies seem to come to life. By combining these insects—allegories of the soul and transience—with the tangible nature of the light projection, this poetic work evokes the fragile miracle of the visible and the fleeting nature of time.

Since 1990, Bertrand Gadenne has been exploring this phenomenon of appearances in public spaces through video projections. His “intrusive” installations of moving images are custom-designed to fit specific locations and their architecture, transforming them into nocturnal stages for the fantastic and the unusual. The Institute’s main courtyard comes to life: while a building watches you, the façade of the mansion transforms into an aquarium. While these interventions offer an opportunity to invite the animal world into the urban space, their ambivalence provokes reflection: we are no longer merely viewers; we are also being observed.