Rioux Masterprint

Paul-Émile Rioux creates evocative digital art that pulls the viewer into an uncanny world and provides a haunting reflection of reality. His virtual color photography and landscape photography pieces reveal their synthesized nature only upon close inspection.

Rioux is based in Montréal, Canada, where he studied animation at Concordia University. In the early 1990s, he established a career in photography with a focus on urban environments. At the same time, he was developing an interest in 3D software. Eventually, the virtual world overtook the real one as his main passion. 

Rioux combines his photography with cutting-edge technology to create the virtual matrices from which his images are born. He eschews more popular image manipulation technologies, such as Photoshop, in favor of numerous digital techniques and 3D software. Each technology is like a different paintbrush that helps Rioux generate the final image, which is the result of algorithmic possibilities captured in a cut of virtual space and time.

Rioux’s new media work offers a tense glimpse of a dystopic world populated by infinite skyscrapers. It encourages one to pause and reflect on the future and the environment.

Whitehot Magazine advises the viewer to “think of one of Rioux’s works as the template for a truly engulfing experience.” Though the worlds he brings to life exist only digitally, they represent a meeting of reality and imagination. 

Rioux’s work was exhibited at the 2021 Cube Art Fair in New York City.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of Paul-Émile Rioux’s digital art.

Used to refer to a time rather than an aesthetic, Contemporary art generally describes pieces created after 1970 or being made by living artists anywhere in the world. This immediacy means it encompasses art responding to the present moment through diverse subjects, media and themes. Contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, performance, digital art, video and more frequently includes work that is attempting to reshape current ideas about what art can be, from Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s use of candy to memorialize a lover he lost to AIDS-related complications to Jenny Holzer’s ongoing “Truisms,” a Conceptual series that sees provocative messages printed on billboards, T-shirts, benches and other public places that exist outside of formal exhibitions and the conventional “white cube” of galleries.

Contemporary art has been pushing the boundaries of creative expression for years. Its disruption of the traditional concepts of art are often aiming to engage viewers in complex questions about identity, society and culture. In the latter part of the 20th century, contemporary movements included Land art, in which artists like Robert Smithson and Michael Heizer create large-scale, site-specific sculptures, installations and other works in soil and bodies of water; Sound art, with artists such as Christian Marclay and Susan Philipsz centering art on sonic experiences; and New Media art, in which mass media and digital culture inform the work of artists such as Nam June Paik and Rafaël Rozendaal.

The first decades of the 21st century have seen the growth of Contemporary African art, the revival of figurative painting, the emergence of street art and the rise of NFTs, unique digital artworks that are powered by blockchain technology.

Major Contemporary artists practicing now include Ai Weiwei, Cecily Brown, David Hockney, Yayoi Kusama, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami and Kara Walker.

Find a collection of Contemporary prints, photography, paintings, sculptures and other art on 1stDibs.

Since the introduction of photography in the 19th century, it has been used to show the earth’s diverse landscapes. Modern and contemporary landscape photography continues to capture scenes of landscapes from around the world while becoming much more exploratory.

Historically, artists have played a key role in landscape preservation. Early 20th-century landscape photography provided a powerful argument for the establishment of the U.S. National Park Service a century ago, and iconic national park shots by Ansel Adams and Eliot Porter captured the public’s imagination and fueled conservation efforts.

The world of landscape photography has grown far more experimental in the last several decades, bolstered by innovative techniques and creative talents. Abstract landscape photography is often a thought-provoking exploration of bold, bleeding colors. To understand just how abstract these images can be, look no further than Jean-François Rauzier's outstanding landscape compositions.

A simpler style is offered by minimalist landscape photography and its subdued tones. These pieces tend to imbue their surroundings with a sense of serenity, making them an excellent addition to bedrooms and quiet living rooms. And like any other works of art that you’ve brought into your home, there are many ways to arrange photography in a space. Small areas, for example, are ideal for displaying more petite pieces. These can also be positioned in a cluster as a gallery wall. You can stand framed landscape photography on an easel, a mantelpiece, floating shelves or on the floor leaning against a wall.

Browse exquisite landscape photography on 1stDibs today and find an eye-catching image to complement any home or collection.