Olivier Ratsi
b. 1972, France
French artist, Olivier Ratsi, is interested in different perceptions of space, time and matter. From his early photographic series, he echos cubist concepts, as he digitally collages architectural photos taken from different times and perspectives. His interpretation of space is carried forward in large-scale installation using light, sculptures and projection mapping.
In the series Perspicere, Latin for ‘looking closely’, Ratsi used a technique to warp perception using light and optics. He made three variations of sculptures in different materials; first in polycarbonate then painted wood and finally a combination of both. The structure of the sculptures exploits Euclid’s Optics, a mathematical theory that deals with the geometry of vision. An alignment is created between certain angles of the sculptures and natural vantage points, confusing the viewer with contradicting information as visible in Perspicere, square 1.1 exhibited in Movement (2018).
Ratsi was always fascinated with the vanishing point and the role of optical perspective in the history of art. From his meticulous studies of spatial representation, combined with technical and scientific knowledge, Ratsi is able to understand and distort the perception of space: “I override perspective conventions in order to break with the ‘normality’ in front of us — that which seems obvious at first glance. Challenging perspective allows me to ask questions on many different levels about our own perceptions.”
Olivier Ratsi has gained recognition for his live video performances and installations, and musical collaborations with the collective AntiVJ. Since 2008 he has participated in music festivals around the world, expressing his practice in an accessible and experiential way. Ratsi has had solo-exhibitions in France, Japan and the United States. In Asia his works have been exhibited in several museums including China’s, The Power Station of Art in Shanghai, and the K11 Art Village in Wuhan, Korea’s D-Museum in Seoul, and the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts. In 2015 Ratsi exhibited for the first time with Galerie Denise René in Cinétique Numérique Aujourd’hui.
