Le Magicien

Guillaume Bijl rose to prominence in the mid-1970s with a series of iconic works in which he staged minutely recreated shopping environments. By transposing these sites of ordinary life into the realm of art, he allowed for a critical and humorous perspective on consumer society.
Illusion is also at the heart of the sculpture entitled Le Magicien. The iconic magic trick of levitation is here performed by a man and a woman who are depicted in a hyper-realistic manner. But the real illusionist here is the artist, who is able to capture this fleeting moment in the extended time of sculpture.