We could feel the desert heat creeping its way into the car as we approached Palm Springs, which made me keep my eyes close on the road, as the heat made me feel claustrophobic, like being trapped in an ongoing desert haze with no exit sign, beating on us and rising up to 45 degrees, but how I loved its vibe at night when temperatures cooled and the sun set, but still allowed for infinite pool ventures and midnight strolls, and getting lost, in the deep black desert sky, and finding ourselves, deep into the night.


"Le plus grand splash" makes a clear allusion on David Hockney's most famous work called A bigger splash, as a darker and more gloomy version of Hockney's bright pool scenery. Splash #1 and #2 show a delicate interplay of pool lights at nights, the reflection of the sunset in its water and the most absurd objects - floaters - hovering gently in the shadowy water. The scenery is dark; almost as if besides the floaters, a dead body could have found its way into the pool - which could even be a reference to the movie likewise called A bigger splash featuring great Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts.

The painting is photo-realistic, even though it doesn't feel that way, as its imminent light sources almost turn the painting upside-down. The original photographs were taken near a pool in Palm Springs, somewhere between desert heat and the coolness of a desert sunset.

Note: the parallels with Hockney's work are plenty: a curious reader could find back a picture of Hockney's pool in California covered with - you'll never guess it - painted floaters.


Le plus grand splash en couleur, 2021. Oil on linen canvas, 80x120 cm. 
Poolside splash, 2021. Oil on linen canvas, 120x80 cm. 

Contact chloenunezgarcia@live.be if interested.