Juan Carlos Arana and Laurent Chéhère “Dream and Reality”

Muriel Guépin Gallery

[Image: Laurent Chéhère "D Day" (2018) Digital C-Print, 35.4 x 35.4 in. ]

Juan Carlos Arana is an American artist whose most recent color pencil illustrations are inspired by super heroes from American comic books he read as a child. Over the years, his work has evolved from personal storytelling to the reanimation of well-know cartoon characters lost in time or placed in out of context situations. JCA’s artistic evolution can be linked to his own story. Being the father of two young kids, he created that new series where his childhood super heroes appear in what could look like some of his kids’ drawings. His graphite drawings are hyper realistic and when rendered in black and white mimic a very distinct vintage and nostalgic look. Paired with what appears to be very simplistic childish colored drawings, his recent series confuse timelines and create whimsical stories.

French photographe Laurent Chéhère makes images of flying houses and other dwellings that are informed by his wanderings in the hidden neighborhoods of Paris. The charming manipulated images, part digital, part analog depict a dreamlike world where his reconstructed houses appear to be floating in the sky. Hundreds of details of photographed buildings are carefully assembled into Photoshop to create whimsical photo-montages that all pay a tribute to Parisian architecture, culture and lifestyle. Most of his imaginary flying houses are inspired by his love of cinematic history and old Parisian stories, with several titles taken from classic movies such as “The Red Balloon” to name just one.