In his photographs, maquettes and sound installations, Neven Allanic (b. 1980), too, is interested in “space in-between.” He defines this as a “mutating, transitory space whose laws are themselves evolving, one that constantly stimulates our perceptions in an irrational kind of way.” Starting with this idea, the artist has come up with a hybrid model which combines the staging of Las Meniñas by Velasquez and an element taken from another masterpiece, the famous Arnolfini Portrait. The photograph of this model, presented in the exhibition, shows both the décor that engendered the image and the elements behind the scene that constructed the object. Thus, Van Eyck’s mirror ceases to be an object that amplifies illusion by increasing the depth of field, but acts instead to reveal the mimetic character of the represented space. By weaving complex connections between the real interior, its scaled down version, its illusory representation and its ideal prototypes, Allanic constructs a powerful visual dialogue that invites us on a dream exploration in a mythical place.

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