JULIEN ALLÈGRE

“A humanity of sheet metal
Since black gold submerged the earth, barrels and cans have remained symbols of the world’s curse: they are rolled, moved, immobilised, stored, perforated: their unscrewed caps release the concentrate of their distillation and refining, and spread pollution of the water, air and soil.
The artist Julien Allègre, who is highly aware of this evil, has taken possession of this sheet metal hardware to carry out singular metamorphoses. He has therefore accumulated barrels and cans at the entrance to his studio (which for them is like the threshold of a slaughterhouse). One after the other he dismembers them, cuts them up, separates them, then stamps them, drills them, hammers them, welds them, engraves them. Wearing his gloves, his mask and his glasses, J.A. makes the fire play, sparks fly, the hammer resound. One cannot help but think of the image of Ephraïstos, god of the forge and of fire, locked up in his volcanic lair, inspiring fear and sacred respect. ”

Extract from the text written by Joel Claude MEFFRE