Falling Bird
Rechtstraat 20
In Falling Bird, Ori Gersht reinterprets a classical genre scene for the digital age. Inspired by Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin’s A Wild Duck with Seville Orange, he depicts a male pheasant breaking free from its static position, plummeting in slow motion towards a black, reflective surface of water. Upon impact, the bird merges into its reflection, setting off a dramatic chain reaction that shatters the sublime yet foreboding illusion of stillness. The camera zoom intensifies the impact of the image.
Gersht’s work combines elements from the fields of photography, video, and painting and employs digital precision to reimagine classical visual traditions. As in Chardin’s painting, transience is palpable, with the bird symbolising the fragility of existence. But here, the traditional still life is subverted as the lifeless creature is set in motion, plunging into the water like a high diver and seemingly escaping the stillness of painting. As such, Gersht rewrites the bird’s fate, transforming it from a trophy frozen in time into a living creature that returns to life and breaks free.
Thanks to JM Limited Edition.