Centrochelys Sulcata

Rouen, France

2018

Geert Goiris

In 2018, a monumental wallpaper is installed on one of Rubis Terminal Rouen’s tank, created after a photography from the Peak Oil series by artist Geert Goiris.
The sulcata turtle which is represented is a symbol of longevity and stability and can be considered as an actual living fossil whose origins date back to prehistory. It thus echoes, according to the artist, the hydrocarbons on which our society depends. By transferring  this sulcata turtle to Rubis Terminal Rouen gigantic tanks, Geert Goiris creates an analogy between the animal and the oil activity of this industrial area.

Peak Oil  is the title of a large scale photographic commission to the Belgian artist Geert Goiris by the Frac Normandie Rouen and Rubis Mécénat. Throughout the year of 2017, Geert Goiris visited 12 industrial sites of Rubis Terminal (subsidiary of the Rubis Group), covering all depots in Europe. The aim of the project has been to develop a photographic series on the contemporary industrial landscape. The project has already given rise in December 2018 to an exhibition at the Frac, an installation in the Port of Rouen and a book.

Artwork visible since September 2018

Rubis Terminal Rouen
76 120 Grand-Quevilly

Geert Goiris

Geert Goiris is a Belgian photographer who lives and works in Antwerp, Belgium. He studied at the LUCA School of Arts in Brussels (Belgium), at the FAMU Film and Television Academy in Prague (Czech Republic) and at the Higher Institute for Fine Arts (HISK) (Belgium). His work became known to a wider international public when he participated at the Manifesta 5 Contemporary Art Biennial in San Sebastian (Spain) in 2004.

Geert’s work is regularly exhibited at Europe’s renowned art institutions such as the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum in The Netherlands (2007), the Wiels Contemporary Art Center in Belgium (2010), the Palais de Tokyo in France (2010), the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Photography in the United States (2015). The artist is represented by the gallery Art : Concept in Paris (France).

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