Jean Vérame’s Les Roches Bleues

The oft-paralyzing heat of the summer months can leave us feeling cranky and despairing, and we begin to fantasize in shades of blue. When the temperatures rise, I tend to close my eyes and drift off into a cerulean dream world, conjuring images of the wavering turquoise surface of a swimming pool, or an inky-blue celestial winterscape. Belgian artist Jean Vérame actualizes this mental oasis with his land works in uninhabited deserts in Egypt, Morocco, and Chad. Vérame’s 1984 project Les Roches Bleues intervenes with a rocky expanse near Tafraoute in Morocco, imbuing saturated blues, purples and reds on the bleak landscape. In these works, Vérame aims to evoke ‘the natural vibration of the cosmos’ and ‘something which is the virtual wealth of every human being’. Through Vérame’s explorations in the nature of primordial matter he seems to have found a way to visually quench a thirst. For more about Jean Vérame’s life and work visit www.verame.com

Tafraout, Morocco

Sinai, Egypt

Tibesti, Chad

Tibesti, Chad