Kolektiv Cité Radieuse, the gallery devoted to visual arts and design from Central and
Eastern Europe established at Le Corbusier Housing Unit, Marseille, invited Slovak
photographer Mária Švarbová to realize a series of 20 pictures exploring the relation
between human beings and the “machine for living” designed by the emblematic architect.
Although bearing the unmistakable mark of their author, in line with her vision of the
relationship of individuals to modernist aesthetics - including its impersonal and standardized traits, these photographs constitute a new milestone in her visual journey.
The blinding light of the Mediterranean, the whitened concrete that reminds of the
surrounding mountains or the wooden prints texturing the walls of the Housing Unit thus
create natural interferences in her otherwise strictly urban aesthetics. The story of
incommunicability between a man and a woman told by these pictures, also powerfully
resonates with our post-Covid-19 environment, put in perspective by multiple references to Greek mythology, from Apollo and Daphne to the fall of Icarus, from Medusa to the Caryatids and the Atlantes...
Bringing a new layer to the themes that made her one of the most acclaimed photographers of her generation, Mária Švarbová not only reflects upon our times of social distancing and isolation, but also delivers a tribute to the genius loci: the one of a city founded by Greeks over 2600 years ago, and the one of the Cité Radieuse, embodying the principles of 20 th Century’s most revered architect.
Eastern Europe established at Le Corbusier Housing Unit, Marseille, invited Slovak
photographer Mária Švarbová to realize a series of 20 pictures exploring the relation
between human beings and the “machine for living” designed by the emblematic architect.
Although bearing the unmistakable mark of their author, in line with her vision of the
relationship of individuals to modernist aesthetics - including its impersonal and standardized traits, these photographs constitute a new milestone in her visual journey.
The blinding light of the Mediterranean, the whitened concrete that reminds of the
surrounding mountains or the wooden prints texturing the walls of the Housing Unit thus
create natural interferences in her otherwise strictly urban aesthetics. The story of
incommunicability between a man and a woman told by these pictures, also powerfully
resonates with our post-Covid-19 environment, put in perspective by multiple references to Greek mythology, from Apollo and Daphne to the fall of Icarus, from Medusa to the Caryatids and the Atlantes...
Bringing a new layer to the themes that made her one of the most acclaimed photographers of her generation, Mária Švarbová not only reflects upon our times of social distancing and isolation, but also delivers a tribute to the genius loci: the one of a city founded by Greeks over 2600 years ago, and the one of the Cité Radieuse, embodying the principles of 20 th Century’s most revered architect.
© Maria Svarbova for Kolektiv Cité Radieuse, with the kind authorization of Le Corbusier Foundation ©FLC I ADAGP Paris 2021
