100taur’s (pronounced centaur) work mixes popular culture into a delicious cocktail of savagery and wry humor. The span of work is an impressive compendium of street art, paintings, drawings, sculpture and installations. I am enraptured by the complex details even as my heart tightens at their grotesque assemblage.
His sculptures seamlessly weave nostalgia with nightmares and his paintings are modern versions of the master Francis Bacon.
His drawings often combine delicately drawn animal heads or cartoon characters with the primal proclivities of human bodies.
But don’t assume all his work is grim, his recent illustration series titled “from tha wood …my tribute to the maggot” is (dare I say) charming.
This complex artist has a deep online portfolio that is well worth investigation. It is a glimpse into a ferociously, clever mind that will surely scratch a pleasing oily mar upon your eyes.
http://100taur.free.fr
http://www.myspace.com/100tor
Iootaur Notes:
What artists or creative person has influenced you?
Without any hesitations, Le Caravage, Ulysse Aldrovandi, Jerome Bosch, Francis Bacon, J.M. Basquiat, Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft…and many others!Not including other artists or art, what inspires you?
I’m the “boy from the wood”! I mean I’ve got a deep respect for nature and animals. Since I was a child, I’m passionate about mythology and fantasy literature.
I love comics and superheroes, B movies, vampires, tattoo, taxidermy (I will never kill an animal for that, I’m just able to give a second life to it), and I’m fascinated by anatomical drawing books.What is the part of your process you enjoy the most?
I like drawing, and most of all, I prefer to deeply work on the details on a canvas with acrylics.… the least?
Nothing. It maybe sounds weird, but creation helps me stay sane. I feel very restless if I haven’t had time to draw, to paint…For me, a day without drawing is a lost day.If you were NOT an artist, what would you be doing?
Hard to imagine my life without painting or sculpting but…Taxidermist for a Museum maybe, or fishing guide…why not?!!
News:
Iootaur is featured in the January 2011 #02 issue of Neuroblasto, a magazine focusing on contemporary art around the world. (His work is on pages 6-15) Some of his work was also published in the French book “400ml,” a tribute to street art.
Thank you for your time 100taur! – Stacey