‘CELED’ – 2022
CELED is a result of Stephen’s interest in the exploration and re-interpretation of classic artistic images as a way of addressing contemporary issues.
CELED is available as a unique NFT and also as an AR filter where a QR code will be used to trigger the AR experience to still image prints.
Stephen has a deep knowledge on the canon of Western Art. In 2015, he completed his MA thesis in Art History on Pietro Cavallini the proto-Renaissance Roman fresco painter. His supervisor was Martin Gayford (@gayfordmartin), the author and art critic for the Spectator Magazine.
CELED is a wry observation on contemporary affairs, where despite all the chaos and distress being experienced by the people, our leaders are perhaps more focused on their own vanity than providing leadership. Hence the figure of ‘Liberty Leading the People’ with the French Tricolour has been replaced by ‘Celebrity’ and the Tricolour replaced by a selfie.
The art piece is an amalgam of elements of ‘Liberty Leading the People’ by Eugene Delacroix from 1830 and ‘The Wreck of the Medusa’ by Theodore Gericault from 1818. It is interesting to note that Banksy has at times separately incorporated images from both paintings in his own work. CELED has also updated the rendering of the ‘people’ to include the iconic images of the ‘gilet jaunes’ from the protests in Paris and other parts of France running from 2018 to current times.
A key feature of the CELED project is the animation and 3D experience that the piece gives the viewer in both its form as an NFT and as an AR filter.