‘Love in times of pain’ was a Franko B exhibition that presented a series of objects, all black in colour, that evoked themes of life and its vanities, death, pain and eroticism. The exhibition displayed a haunting set of found objects and stuffed animals pasted over in dense black acrylic, tar-like paint: birds, a squirrel, a turtle, the head of a deer, mounted on trolleys, tables and other furniture coated in the same shade.
The animals standing high on their ‘pedestals’ became monumental, as though these rescued creatures were granted a new identity. Standing high and facing the viewer, they represented life itself, and the layers of thick, impenetrable black paint, this absolute monochrome which usually evokes death, served as a reminder of a previous sore existence.
We were also delighted to present a selection of Franko B Black Paintings in this exhibition.
Franko B is a performance artist, born in Milan but living in London since 1979. Over the years he has worked in many mediums and disciplines from sculptures to drawings to performance and is now internationally known. He has performed widely, including at Tate Modern, ICA, South London Gallery and Beaconsfield, and has presented work internationally in Moscow, Zagreb, Mexico City, Milan, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Copenhagen, Madrid and Vienna, Tate Liverpool, the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels and the Crawford Municipal Gallery in Cork. Currently he is Professor of Sculpture at l’Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti di Torino and a visiting lecturer at the Royal College of Art, London.