| Go to the table of contents | —by Cyril Skinazy | Lire cette page en français |
—Bruno Mallart, «Orthorographe, ou le plan Paris–Madrid», courtesy Galerie Bayart
The “One pot pasta” is a new way of cooking pasta. Invented by a Neapolitan chef who was either in a rush or inspired, made popular by the high priestess of American cuisine Martha Stewart, this audacious cooking method represents a quantum leap forward in the preparation of this famous Italian dish. Of a biblical simplicity, this cooking technique involves simmering all the ingredients in a small amount of water for just a few minutes. It’s a departure from tradition which will please Epicureans as much as the average hungry person because the creative possibilities of this delicious meal seems unlimited for the moment.
One day a young man asked his mother, “Mom what is ’pataphysics?” His mother, although a bit surprised by his question replied that she didn’t know the science of imaginary solutions so well, but she had the impression that ’pataphysics has to do with oblique and reverberating spirits.
Although the genesis of a highly creative spirit has no particular geographical preferences, it is clear that France has historically been a fertile terrain for invention, inspiring those who have taken refuge there in the most unexpected ways.
From Jules Verne to surrealism and dada, if ever there was an artist equally at ease with the absurd and improbable like a sardine in the great blue oceans, it’s Bruno Mallart. When this former student at the prestigious Penninghen School was asked what motivates him in his aesthetic quest he admitted it’s his desire to look elsewhere. This “elsewhere” is composed of fantastic and joyful digital compositions populated with flying teapots, futuristic conquistadores, bulls who love typewriters, and mechanical rhinoceros. Welcome to Mallardoland, this distorted “other world” which closely resembles the “The Three Princes of Serendip” by Horace Walpole; a kingdom where nothing is certain and in which the unexpected pops up at every step.
Puns, spoonerisms, whimsical rhymes, nebulous innuendos, the hellish capitol of this crazy country travels through these lands with a sense of irony worthy of Albert Robida, Alfred Jarry, Salvador Dalí or Pierre Dac. When has gone beyond the pale there are no limits, but that’s precisely what Brutall Ramon, the artist’s alter ego, is seeking.
The painter’s enormous compositions, impressive when seen from afar and captivating up close, are perhaps no more than pure chimera. Stéphane Mallarmé revolutionized poetry with his famous composition of 707 words, “A throw of the dice will never abolish chance”, which inspired Boeing engineers with its aerial peppers, flying cucumbers and turnips carved in to the shape of the space shuttle, the extravagant Mr. Mallart’s esthetic kettle which can be paid for in local currency is the perfect elixir for a long journey. In weightlessness.
Bruno Mallart is represented by the Galerie Bayart: 17, rue des Beaux Arts, 75006 Paris; 03 44 20 44 25
—Cyril Skinazy
—Bruno Mallart, «La symphonie du grand veneur», courtesy Galerie Bayart