George Mayer

In the Clouds Portrait #5, 2022

Printed on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Smooth 308gsm

A label with the Edition Number and Signature of the artist is attached verso.

Created in 2022, In the Clouds, Portrait #5 emerged from a period of profound personal and political uncertainty for George Mayer. Following the optimism of late 2021 and the easing of pandemic restrictions, the outbreak of war in February 2022 abruptly changed the artist’s sense of the future.

Mayer describes the months that followed as a period of emotional withdrawal, when creating new work felt almost impossible. In the Clouds grew from a desire to escape a reality defined by conflict and aggression, if only temporarily.

In the photograph, the human body appears grounded yet psychologically elsewhere. A dense artificial cloud obscures the upper figure, drawing on the visual language of Surrealism and the dreamlike worlds associated with René Magritte. The concealed face removes individual identity, allowing the figure to become a broader expression of dislocation, uncertainty and retreat.

For Mayer, the cloud represents a state of consciousness unwilling to keep both feet firmly on the ground. Yet the escape remains temporary. Like waking from sleep, the imagined flight eventually ends with a return to reality.

The resulting image is both deeply personal and universal, exploring the instinct to seek refuge in an inner world when the external one becomes difficult to comprehend.

EDITIONS

Image 11.8 x 7.9 in (29.97 x 20.06 cm) - Edition of 5

Image 23.6 x 15.8 in (59.94 x 40.13 cm)- Edition of 5

Image 35.4 x 23.6 in (89.91 x 59.94 cm) - Edition of 5

COA

Includes COA by the Artist as well as LIGHTWORKS