Arturo Herrera’s Hus is a stringent work where the composition plays with viewers’ perception of reality. The artist has worked over the gable of a modest house hidden away in an alley and reshaped the elements to create a surprising illusion or Trompe-l’oeil. Trompe-l’oeil is an effect that has been used since antiquity. Translated directly from the French it means “cheating the eye.” The intention is to make viewers believe that a painted motif is actual, spatial reality. Herrera’s work contrasts the deep, dark blue color beautifully with the original yellow ochre paint of the building. The actual door and window on the wall interact with the painted ones. The perspective of the painted house emphasizes the wall, leading viewers into the alley and inviting them to investigate the rest of the building’s exterior and the well-preserved surrounding buildings in Studiestræde.
b. 1959 in Caracas, Venezuela, lives and works in Berlin, Germany.
