François
Curlet lived
in Lyon until he was twenty-two years old, when he began his studies at the
Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts before getting expelled. He then
settled in Brussels where he still lives part-time today.
As a manipulator of objects and signs, François Curlet produces his
works by scrutinising the manifestations of the present world.
This
unclassifiable artist regularly changes his environment, like a street
entertainer, to nurture his artistic approach, with daily life as a main source
of inspiration. As a multidisciplinary artist, he performs in his creations a
change of meaning by bringing together, seemingly naturally, ideas and forms
from various contexts[1]. He is also interested in cinema as another
way of grasping reality. With this new medium, François Curlet replaces objects
with humans and approaches the psychological field in order to overthrow the
codes of morality.
In parallel with his artistic work, in 1996 he launched ‘People Day’, a
trademark, and also developed a collector's activity which he considers a game.
In this context, he assembled a whole series of archives of the artist Robert
Filliou. François Curlet's work has been the subject of numerous exhibitions in
France and abroad, notably at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris in 2013 and at the
Institute of Contemporary Art in Villeurbanne in 2007.
[1] Regarding François
Curlet’s works, see the catalogue: Spezialität. François
Curlet. Lyon – Torino – Antwerpen –
Paris – Tourcoing, Institut d’art contemporain (Villeurbanne) – Centre culturel
français – Galerie Micheline Szwajcer – FRAC Ile-de-France / Le Plateau –
Galerie Commune, 2007.