Hugo Servanin
Interview by Aleï journal
Hugo Servanin is presented at Nicoletti, London at the occasion of Liste Art Fair Basel
from the 12th to the 18th of June 2023
How would you define your practice ?
I define my practice as the creation of a symbolic universe populated by sculptures-beings that I call the Giants. At the heart of my practice, there is the molding of humans which I use as raw material to create hybrid bodies.
What are the main themes in your work ?
What runs through all of my exhibitions is a research around the living in what it has of most visceral. Bodily sensations, interactions between bodies, the movement of flesh. Then, with each series of Environments that I create, I develop new spaces that lead me to deal with various subjects and to put them in relation. In this exhibition, for example, I treated the orthopedic prosthesis as a tutor but also the venous networks that connect the bodies together and irrigate them.
What is your process of work, do you have a recurrent creative schema, and do you create your art pieces following a path ?
I always work in a team, I surround myself with a lot of people.
I work on several time scales in parallel. I build my Environments several years in advance, I develop them in total abstraction via 3D, models and notes, then I do empirical research on materials, I try to bounce from image to image in my studio and I spend a lot of time with the craftsmen to understand their worlds. The actual production is done at the last moment with my team. There we start from what I imagined and we deconstruct everything. We work in a hurry, it pushes us to have to make choices and adapt to the material very quickly. It also helps to keep a form of life in the work.
What are your influences and references ?
I am very influenced by artists such as Olga Balema or Mark Manders. But most of my inspiration comes mainly from cinema, I am thinking in particular of Videodrome by Cronenberg, Grave by Julia Ducournau or Canine by Yorgos Lanthimos.
Hugo Servanin (b. 1994, France) lives and works in Paris, FR. Selected solo exhibitions include Environnement Foule #5, Magasins Généraux, Pantin, FR (2023); Regime Selecting Devices (Environnement Foule #6), NıCOLETTı, London (2021), and Cacotopia, Annka Kultys Gallery, London, UK (2018).
Nicoletti Gallery
Hugo Servanin
Giant 38, 2023, Glass, steel, 100 x 80 x 10 cm, 39 3/8 x 31 1/2 x 4 in — Object 19, 2023, Steel, glass, lead, polymethyl methacrylate, silver print, 120 x 80 x 4 cm, 47 1/4 x 31 1/2 x 1 5/8 in — Giant 40, 2023, Glazed ceramic, steel, 94 x 74 x 4 cm — Giant 33, 2023, Glass, steel, water, plant, 250 x 100 x 90 cm, 39 3/8 x 35 3/8 x 98 3/8 in — Object 21, 2023, Zinc gutter, threaded rods, stainless steel, variable — Object 17, 2023, Steel, glass, lead, polymethyl methacrylate, silver print, 120 x 80 x 4 cm, 47 1/4 x 31 1/2 x 1 5/8 in — Giant 31, 2023, Glass, steel, water, plant, Sculpture: 70 x 50 cm, 27 1/2 x 19 3/4 in, Base: 100 x 80 x 88 cm, 31 1/2 x 39 3/8 x 34 5/8 in — Giant 39, 2023, Glass, steel, 100 x 80 x 10 cm, 39 3/8 x 31 1/2 x 4 in — Object 20, 2023 — Steel, glass, lead, polymethyl methacrylate, silver print, 120 x 80 x 4 cm, 31 1/2 x 47 1/4 x 1 5/8 in — Object 18, 2023, Steel, glass, lead, polymethyl methacrylate, silver print, 120 x 80 x 4 cm, 47 1/4 x 31 1/2 x 1 5/8 in — Object 14, 2023, Plaster, steel, Sculpture: 80 x 75 cm, 29 1/2 x 31 1/2 in Base: 80 x 100 cm, 31 1/2 x 39 3/8 in — Object 15, 2023, Plaster, steel, Base: 100 x 50 x 50 cm, 39 3/8 x 31 1/2 x 39 3/8 in — Object 16, 2023, Plaster, steel, Base: 100 x 80 x 100 cm, 39 3/8 x 31 1/2 x 39 3/8 in
Hugo Servanin
Interview by Aleï journal
Hugo Servanin is presented at Nicoletti, London at the occasion of Liste Art Fair Basel
from the 12th to the 18th of June 2023
How would you define your practice ?
I define my practice as the creation of a symbolic universe populated by sculptures-beings that I call the Giants. At the heart of my practice, there is the molding of humans which I use as raw material to create hybrid bodies.
What are the main themes in your work ?
What runs through all of my exhibitions is a research around the living in what it has of most visceral. Bodily sensations, interactions between bodies, the movement of flesh. Then, with each series of Environments that I create, I develop new spaces that lead me to deal with various subjects and to put them in relation. In this exhibition, for example, I treated the orthopedic prosthesis as a tutor but also the venous networks that connect the bodies together and irrigate them.
What is your process of work, do you have a recurrent creative schema, and do you create your art pieces following a path ?
I always work in a team, I surround myself with a lot of people.
I work on several time scales in parallel. I build my Environments several years in advance, I develop them in total abstraction via 3D, models and notes, then I do empirical research on materials, I try to bounce from image to image in my studio and I spend a lot of time with the craftsmen to understand their worlds. The actual production is done at the last moment with my team. There we start from what I imagined and we deconstruct everything. We work in a hurry, it pushes us to have to make choices and adapt to the material very quickly. It also helps to keep a form of life in the work.
What are your influences and references ?
I am very influenced by artists such as Olga Balema or Mark Manders. But most of my inspiration comes mainly from cinema, I am thinking in particular of Videodrome by Cronenberg, Grave by Julia Ducournau or Canine by Yorgos Lanthimos.
Hugo Servanin (b. 1994, France) lives and works in Paris, FR. Selected solo exhibitions include Environnement Foule #5, Magasins Généraux, Pantin, FR (2023); Regime Selecting Devices (Environnement Foule #6), NıCOLETTı, London (2021), and Cacotopia, Annka Kultys Gallery, London, UK (2018).
Nicoletti Gallery
Hugo Servanin
Giant 38, 2023, Glass, steel, 100 x 80 x 10 cm, 39 3/8 x 31 1/2 x 4 in — Object 19, 2023, Steel, glass, lead, polymethyl methacrylate, silver print, 120 x 80 x 4 cm, 47 1/4 x 31 1/2 x 1 5/8 in — Giant 40, 2023, Glazed ceramic, steel, 94 x 74 x 4 cm — Giant 33, 2023, Glass, steel, water, plant, 250 x 100 x 90 cm, 39 3/8 x 35 3/8 x 98 3/8 in — Object 21, 2023, Zinc gutter, threaded rods, stainless steel, variable — Object 17, 2023, Steel, glass, lead, polymethyl methacrylate, silver print, 120 x 80 x 4 cm, 47 1/4 x 31 1/2 x 1 5/8 in — Giant 31, 2023, Glass, steel, water, plant, Sculpture: 70 x 50 cm, 27 1/2 x 19 3/4 in, Base: 100 x 80 x 88 cm, 31 1/2 x 39 3/8 x 34 5/8 in — Giant 39, 2023, Glass, steel, 100 x 80 x 10 cm, 39 3/8 x 31 1/2 x 4 in — Object 20, 2023 — Steel, glass, lead, polymethyl methacrylate, silver print, 120 x 80 x 4 cm, 31 1/2 x 47 1/4 x 1 5/8 in — Object 18, 2023, Steel, glass, lead, polymethyl methacrylate, silver print, 120 x 80 x 4 cm, 47 1/4 x 31 1/2 x 1 5/8 in — Object 14, 2023, Plaster, steel, Sculpture: 80 x 75 cm, 29 1/2 x 31 1/2 in Base: 80 x 100 cm, 31 1/2 x 39 3/8 in — Object 15, 2023, Plaster, steel, Base: 100 x 50 x 50 cm, 39 3/8 x 31 1/2 x 39 3/8 in — Object 16, 2023, Plaster, steel, Base: 100 x 80 x 100 cm, 39 3/8 x 31 1/2 x 39 3/8 in
