In this series, part of the group exhibition Luminous Traces, I refer in my analysis to the well-known anecdote about Zeuxis, an ancient Greek painter, and his challenge with Parrhasios. The story describes their competition to determine who could create the more realistic painting. Zeuxis painted grapes so convincingly that birds tried to peck at them, while Parrhasios painted a curtain that deceived Zeuxis himself.

The core of this anecdote lies in an image’s ability to simulate reality and to deceive the viewer. For image theory, it is significant because it shows that images do not simply produce illusions but also shape the way we perceive objects.

An image becomes an image when it is no longer understood as a physical object but as a representation of something else. The ability to distinguish between visual deception and reality is a fundamental human skill.