“Henri Frachon and Antoine Lecharny have developed a practice dedicated to the observation and conception of objects rather than their use. They draw the outlines of an “abstract design” aiming at focusing our attention on the essence of a form and not on its function. How does a hole behave? A hole inside a hole? And how is it shaped? Is it the matter that surrounds it, or its constitutive void? What does a volcano crater have in common with a flow drilling?
In their exploration, the duo handles raw materials and brings multiple skills together: stone cutting, metal spinning, embroidery, carpentry or glassblowing... They draw, model, miniature, multiply the attempts, fail and start again, to the point of exhausting their theme.
Their work is divided into four elementary subjects organized into four lines: the hole, the triangle, the jonc-doucine and the dissonance. The abstract design manifesto, presented on the wall, sheds light on the work’s « raison d’être » setting forth the rules.
Radical and experimental, their approach can be compared to fundamental research. Their first presentation at the Palais de Tokyo is to be experienced as a journey, delighting on those details that can be found everywhere in our daily lives.”
Gaël Charbau
· 25 November - 5 December 2021
In Palais de Tokyo, Paris
With Henri Frachon
Curated by Gaël Charbau