Jean-Christophe Massinon has taken on many commonplaces as subjects throughout his oeuvre. Felatio, crowds, underwear, landscapes, rolling pins, politicians, disco balls, and campfires are all to be re-discovered. Massinon paints, draws, makes prints, makes buttons, stickers, sculpts, instigates art actions, and assembles found objects. The common formal elements throughout his work tend towards the use of bold, direct colors and graphic flatness. His compositions hit you directly with a frank exuberance for the dichotomy of the banal and the euphoric. Through chromatic pointedness and the sideways glance unapologetic surprise and delightfulness abound. Massinon´s transgressions belie a rather deep connection with certain strains of populism inherrent to graphic design and street art. For example, certain transgressions like the posting of stickers should be closely considered for aesthetic impulses. Any underlying critique of society to be found within Massinon´s work might be that molehills should be made out of mountains, and then we should subsequently proceed to laugh our heads off at any “mountain-headedness” in the nearby vicinity. Throughout all of the many paintings, sculptures, and installations there is a clear sense of joy in artistic production. As we hope that you will see, Jean-Christophe Massinon provides us with a unique visual toolkit that might possibly create a better world, and which offers the respectfulness of life inherent to any such charge.

Brian Ireland
Scénographe/Scenic Design
New York

http://www.ralentirtravaux.org