Franck Scurti — My Creative Method — Michel Rein Gallery — Exhibition — Slash Paris

Past: October 18 → November 24, 2012

Ever faithful to his image as a highly active artist, it is not one, nor two, but three books which Franck Scurti is currently presenting¹. One of these publications is the copy of note book whose pages offer a complete panorama of his work, another shows the totality of his collage drawings, which include the magnum-opus Nuts — De l’origine du monde jusqu’à nos jours, and the third is an object-book which develops his work on the theories of Fourier. Three types of books, each very different, which circulate between and allow us to navigate through the Home, the Street and the Museum, where the complex of the street pedlar can merge with that of the portable gallery.

To complement these publications which resume around 20 years of work, Franck Scurti displays a series of drawings which find their source in the book “Natural Curiosities” by Albertus Seba. a collector of curiosities in 17th century Germany, commissioned illustrators to catalogue his collection of rare plants and animals. This extremely rare book, which has been made more readily available by the publishing house Taschen, is made up of a series of engraved and coloured panels demonstrating the curious and enlightened nature of the collection. A number of the snakes from the catalogue have been chosen by the artist to write the names of large brands from all sectors. Plants are also added to complete the decorative effect. The snake can be found throughout Scurti’s work, and along with the apple, which defines the notion of sharing, and nuts, which can say everything about anything, it has enabled him to conjure up the figure of a street shaman (Caducée) and to offer the vision of a dried up world (Skin Map).

The snake also represents the presence of the Devil, that of luxury and grandeur. It is as much a tool for creation as for interpretation, which allows us to navigate between the mythical, the moral and the religious. In choosing to rewrite the brand names which, from computer screens (Home) to the sponsors of large exhibitions (Museum) passing by clothes or accessories (Street) accompany us everywhere at all times, Scurti shields us from fascination or from a lecture on fascination. The companies are stripped of their visual signature and become lined up as the same reptilian family, redefining their identity by skin and a series of contortions. These animals, as we know, are often dangerous, but their beauty is undeniable and a fear of snakes is uncontrollable. Franck Scurti’s “Natural Curiosities” offer the material for a fairy tale, for adults who take their place in the jungle of capitalism, as it was called not so long ago. It does not exactly constitute a political analysis but it is the expression of insolence and the means of escaping despondency.

¹ Coeditions Frank Scurti, JNF Éditions and Galerie Michel Rein