Oil Room

The artist creates interventions in specific settings, which he then registers in photographs. His Oil Room series (Chambre d’Huile) transforms places by flooding the floors with a thick veneer of oil (or blood) to create deep mirrors that permit no human intrusion. At the Matarazzo Hospital, at the foot of a magnificent marble staircase, Barclay created a silent mirror of black oil that reflected the surroundings. The surfaces Barclay converts into mirrors modify the space, rendering it inaccessible and creating a dimension that tolerates no anxiety, only curiosity and the desire to understand this strange, newly-acquired depth.