Usines de Belval

Little is known about Alphonse Nies – yet, within the European Parliament Contemporary Art Collection, his work resonates with that of his fellow compatriots. Indeed, by choosing to portray, in tragically romantic way, an industrial site of his country, Nies’ approach parallels that of Jean-Pierre Thilmany’s Usine à gaz, also featured in the Collection. The low angle perspective, over towering industrial structure, overwhelming smoke and progressively blurred lines convey a similar sensation of inescapable presence of a site that rewrote and restructured the geographical hierarchy of the region. The contrast with the vegetation in Nies’ piece accentuates the feeling of the factory not belonging, but overpowering the vicinity.