ARTmonday: Didier Massard

Today I interviewed interior designer Frank Roop at his studio. But more on that later. Since it’s artMONDAY, I thought I’d show you images by photographer Didier Massard, whose work I discovered hanging in Frank’s living room. (He hosted a Boston Magazine Home party there last spring to celebrate the cover story about his place, “Material Witness.” I almost never go to such events, but I adore Frank’s work and was très excited to see his sumptuous showpiece. Besides, I had a small piece in the magazine too – my first for them – “Some Like It Hot,” and I wanted to meet the wonderful editor, Rachel Levitt.) Here is the photo of Frank’s living room. The photo I fell in love with is hanging on the left.

Photographed by Eric Roth

Today I finally had the opportunity to ask Frank about the work and the artist. Turns out Didier Massard’s work is shown in Boston right on Newbury Street, at the Robert Klein Gallery. (He also shows at the Julie Saul Gallery in NYC.) I haven’t been in there in quite a while, (my husband tends to prefer painting over photographs) but they represent a number of photographers I love, like Sally Gall, Sally Mann, and Tom Baril. But we’ll save them for another Monday.

Didier Massard’s images are surreal, romantic, mainly landscapes. But not actual landscapes. Rather they’re contrived. He builds models in his Paris studio, which he then photographs. Here are the ones I like best:

Autumn Tree, 2001