PIERRE-YVES CRUAUD: WHILE THE SHADOWS DREAM UPRIGHT

While the Shadows Dream Upright functions as a poetic injunction: a call for images to elude and for language to contradict. In a gesture reminiscent of Magritte, Pierre-Yves Cruaud utilises the title as a diversion, deliberately displacing the viewer’s attention to unsettle perception and open a field of renewed interpretation.

The exhibition brings together two photographic series that explore the night as a space of memory, strangeness, and revelation. These images seek to capture the precise moments when reality withdraws to make room for fragments of dreams. Each composition is conceived with the soul of a minimalist painting; the “characters” inhabiting these “rooms” appear as hostages to their own history and traces.

Yet, Cruaud’s subjects are far from passive. They struggle, mutate, and reinvent themselves in order to survive. In this body of work, the oneiric dimension is not an escape from the world—it is an act, a vigil, and a vital survival strategy. By creating a constant tension in perception, While the Shadows Dream Upright conjures poetic enigmas that oscillate perpetually between the dream and the waking reality.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Pierre-Yves Cruaud is a French visual artist with a background in film studies, which he pursued from 1993 to 1996. His artistic practice centers around the still image as a space for imaginary and sensory exploration. Since 2000 he has directed experimental films and videos. He composed the music for the feature film ”Should the Wind Drop” directed by Nora Martirosyan (Official Selection — Cannes Film Festival 2020), before becoming involved in photography in 2021.

Rather than capturing the world as it appears, Cruaud seeks to represent it as he imagines it, using photography to evoke inner experiences and emotional landscapes. His images are marked by a minimalist theatricality that challenges realism. Carefully staged yet enigmatic, they invite viewers to identify with the scene while simultaneously unsettling expectations.

Cruaud’s work often revolves around the concept of metamorphosis, a recurring metaphor for transformation, uncertainty, and psychological depth. His photographs suggest moments suspended between states, where the familiar becomes strange and the static becomes dynamic.

In 2025, he was the joint 1st Prize Winner of the BBA Photography Prize.