So Real–Surreal

Presented in the juried online exhibition So Real–Surreal at the O'Hanlon Center for the Arts in Mill Valley, California, Arnaud Quercy's The Two Cities (Part II) explores the coexistence of the spiritual and the temporal through layered digital composition. Juried by Michael Yochum with poetry by Cruwys Brown, this exhibition invited artists to navigate the liminal spaces between clarity and distortion, reason and dream—a curatorial framework that resonates deeply with Quercy's philosophical approach to digital art.

Drawing inspiration from Saint Augustine's The City of God—specifically Book XIV, chapter 28—Quercy renders an abstract, luminous tension between two realms: the celestial and the terrestrial. Though distinct in their essence, both cities inhabit the same visual space, their boundaries blurred, their goals paradoxically aligned and conflicting. The work manifests as a spatial metaphor for the struggle between spiritual aspiration and earthly entanglement, inviting viewers into a symbolic architecture that reflects theological ambition, political duality, and the enduring quest for peace amid separation.

In a time shaped by uncertainty, flux, and post-truths, the So Real–Surreal exhibition challenged artists to respond to the bizarre multiplicity of contemporary realities. Quercy's digital composition stands as a meditative and philosophical reflection within this context. Rendered through layered digital modeling, The Two Cities (Part II) presents viewers with a philosophical landscape where the sacred and the political, the invisible and the built, the ideal and the distorted, coexist in fragile harmony.

As with many works in his Research on Tensions series, Quercy does not resolve the dualities he evokes—he stages them. The celestial city appears before us, seemingly in exile on terrestrial ground, yet far from indifferent to its counterpart. Both cities struggle with each other as they aspire toward peace, creating a visual meditation on the human condition suspended between divine aspiration and temporal limitation. This surreal vision of entangled cities yearning for resolution while locked in invisible conflict speaks to contemporary anxieties about division, reconciliation, and the possibility of transcendence.

Artist Statement

The celestial city stands here before us. You who are its citizen, is it true that it shelters wisdom and peace by relating to divine providence? Looking at it closely, it seems as if in exile on our land. But far from being indifferent, our two cities struggle with each other as they both aspire to live in peace.

We walk between two cities—one of power, one of grace—both claiming truth, neither offering peace without struggle.

Logistics

The exhibition ran online from November 11, 2021 through January 20, 2022. Juried by Michael Yochum with poetry by Cruwys Brown. For inquiries, contact O'Hanlon Center for the Arts at 415.388.4331 or reach Executive Director Erma Murphy. The exhibition archive is available at

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