VISION ACROSS THE UNIVERSE

Parco Shibuya, Tokyo Japan - April 1993

Vibrant Visions of a high-tech poet

Against a fiery landscape blazed in infernal reds and highlighted in burning oranges, a primordial female being crouches in distilled concentration - the still moment before she takes flight in the graceful splendor resonant of the mighty condor. Her hairless, naked limbs and bald scalp bear the ancient symbols of wisdom as old as creation.
Another universal sister appears against a similar seared setting of reds and oranges. Arms and legs frozen in the midst of some funky move, she suggests the cosmic dance of life in which all gestures gyrate upward in the consummate affirmation of being.
In the company of numerous others, these females offer a glimpse of life forms. Photographer Raphael Labro captures these beings in his "Visions Across the Universe" exhibition currently at the Exposure Gallery.
His works are the offspring of inevitable marriage of high-tech with poetic sensitivity. Through a chance meeting between the artist and an AGFA bigwig, Labro received exclusive license to play on the film company's latest computers.
In turn, the company would learn more about its computer's capabilities.
Greatly simplified, the basic artistic process begins with the artist taking a photograph, then scanning the shot through the computer, and finally adding color. The outcome is highly imaginative images done in vibrant and often shocking color combinations.
The works of this exhibition demonstrate art possibilities realized only through the most advanced of computer technology. The poetic spirit of the artist allows the works to escape the sterility that kills so much of today's computer generated art.
When asked to comment on the uniqueness of his work, Labro answered with his characteristic ironic grin, "Whatever I'm doing is impossible to do in your time."
Each shot offers viewers a ticket for a mental journey that transcends the now and ventures into what the artist calls the "64th dimension."
"Just look at this, "says the artist pointing to one of his intergalactic females. " You're gone for 10 to 20 minutes. You forget everything. I just hope to give everybody a few minutes of dream or relaxation in their lives."
Meditations inspired by his works naturally center on planetary concerns. in this philosophy of the artist, every form of life should aspire to harmonize itself with creation, become one with the One. This responsibility, according to the artist, should come from within as opposed to the dogma of religious institutions, notorious for giving commands.
People today, says the artist, are muddled in thought and therefore out of synch with nature. "Pollution starts in your mind first, "Labro explains. "Then you start to pollute the earth".
These and other of Labro's cosmic meditations are being recorded in a book in which the artist's bizarre text informs his fantastical images.
The final page of the book cites a teaching of pre-Inca society that capitulates the essence of all of Labro's deavors. Titled "Unanima," the translated text reads: "The one who has the wisdom of the unrevealed secret of luminous and scintillating phenomenal stone will unearth the blessed prophecy, will be conveyed and released to the atmosphere, similar to a condor upon the celestial and sacred mountain and will remember the glorious divine apocalypse of the wing, the fire and the philosophical emerald."
Transport to this higher realm via reflection on Labro's photography is facilitated by the futuristic sounds that reverberate within the gallery. Labro also produced these on his computer.
This cosmic Rimbaud (coming from light-years away as he claims) appeared on planet Earth in the year 1954 in Provence, France. Labro has traversed the planet via Paris, Hamburg, Los Angeles, Sydney and Tokyo on what he calls a quest to expand the conscious awareness of human beings to a reality not bound by time and gravity.
In a satellite project, Labro will display six of his stellar nudes on the catacomb walls of the Club Mix in Omotesando, For a dance party on April 19 at 8 p.m., the artist invites all to swing to a cosmic beat beyond time. Should be a blast.

By Nancy Shalala (The Japan Times)