The Anachronous Worlds
A Creative Odyssey
It is from the passionate exploration of an artist-engraver in ancient books that the Anachronous Worlds were born.
Captivated by the graphic homogeneity of the illustrations published between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Jean-José Ferreira Lopès developed a fondness for the imagery from this unique period that preceded the hegemony of photography. Sensitive to its poetry, and likely instinctively aware of its creative potential, he began, at the dawn of the 21st century, to meticulously collect it…
For over 15 years, I have been selecting, digitizing, and cutting out the antique engravings whose elements bring the Anachron Worlds to life.
Jean-José Ferreira Lopès
Anatomy of a Universe
Pieces of machines, fragments of objects, parts of plants or animals, organs, mechanical elements, segments of armor, or architectural details… This is a corpus of several thousand 'spare parts' that serves as the foundation for the Anachron Worlds. It comes from a multitude of encyclopedias, specialized works, and illustrated dictionaries published between 1866 and 1924, which have been tirelessly selected, browsed through, and digitized.
Digital collage
Following this digital deconstruction is a phase of gestation for the imagination. In a whimsical matrix inspired by fantastic or surreal influences, oscillating between Max Ernst's collages and Jules Vernes voyages, objects, subjects, or settings emerge with a poetic strangeness.
“I begin by choosing an element whose shape captures my attention. This first element calls for a second, then a third, and so on. From these disparate elements, an image gradually emerges, becoming more defined over time. Then a machine, a creature, an architecture, or a landscape appears…”
Birth of a world
Reflections of a universe that could have been, these chimera-like objects and subjects gradually reveal the facets of an alternate world that is currently being discovered. After their completion, and sometimes their coloring, the new specimens or elements are named, described, and classified, with the assistance of the author Carine Arribeux, who cleverly pastiches the scientific formalism of the great naturalist eras. Often infused with a touch of humor, they finally enter the interstice of the Anachron Worlds and aspire only to be discovered.
The artist
The creator of the Anachrones Worlds, Jean-José Ferreira Lopès, trained in drawing, interior architecture, and design, discovered engraving in 1994 and embarked on his artistic career.
Collage has always been his preferred mode of expression. Combining various techniques (engraving, oil, water-colour, drawing), he creates intimate and poetic works that can be discovered at The Old Print
Shop in New York or at the Paul Prouté gallery in Paris. From the 2000s onwards, he delves into digital tools and continues, with the Anachrones Worlds, to construct a body of work that delights in blurring boundaries.
