vendredi 7 décembre 2007

Pascal Colrat at M.E.P.



Yesterday Pascal Colrat was invited to make a conference at the M.E.P. (Maison Européenne de la Photographie) in Paris. The auditorium where the conference was held was full of an eclectic audience such as graphic design critics, photo journalists, theatre directors, beautiful dermatologist, very pretty graphic design school students, charming Rasta man... This conference was on the initiative of the young Art Historian Anaïs Feyeux of which we will most remember the laughter rather than the questions she asked the artist, although it was quite enjoyable. The topics of this conference were « when a gallery project becomes a public message », or « the signs into the graphics », « the art of working: image made without fake montage », « Art or Communication tool? ». Pascal Colrat’s lecture about those themes was quite remarkable and sharp.

Pascal Colrat is what we call a “photo-graphist”. He creates images for different fields, art pieces for galleries, but he is also well known as « affichiste » (poster artist) making campaign images for Act Up for exemple, he also makes important campaign posters for the Theater Le Tarmac or Academie Fratellini. His images are shown in contemporary art gallery as well as in Paris’ “Morris columns” or the Parisian Metro’s advertisement supports. Anyone who has walked through Paris has at least once seen one of his works, even if he is unaware of who is behind the work.



At the end of the conference the guests had the poster of “Feu Vert”*, an iconic image of Pascal Colrat, at their free disposal. They were all gone in a couple of minutes’ time so I could not get hold of one myself.

*Feu Vert: during the conference Pascal Colrat, while showing different interpretations of this image, cried out: “Why am I so obsessed by this symbol that represents authorization and interdiction?”. It is there a subject that gives you something to think about.

He just released a new book « Quatre jours à Beyrouth » (Editions Textuel).
This book is a free reflection about the Beyrouth sides that the mass media did not show us. An original print was exposed few weeks ago at the F.I.A.C.



minimix felicite Mlle Feyeux et l'equipe de la M.E.P. pour cette belle initiative.

To know more about Pascal Colrat:
http://www.pascalcolrat.fr/