The corners in Jean-Christophe Menu’s work are too prominent, too obvious, too direct. As he defines it, the nook is a "small space partially enclosed, out of sight" or the "part of a hollow object of small size, and folded on itself". The students of the Visual Communication department of HEAD – Genève tried to open this nook, to unfold it, so that he can been seen, discovered and understood.
Of course, Jean-Christophe Menu draws. And, at the same time, he works as a critic and historian of the Comic Strip (to be written in capital letters, according to his own will, in order to give it its credentials, and fight the commercial Comic Strip). This double role leads him to play between texts and pictures, and to give a prominent place to writing within his Comic Books.
To show the diversity and complexity of his work, the students Anne-Soorya Takoordyal, Mael Bächtold and Tristan Bartolini, assisted by Gaëtan Stierlin, worked like archaeologists. They analyzed layer by layer his written and drawn work. Beyond the logic of series, stories or chronology, they chose to explore the recurrence of certain graphic and thematic principles.
Layer after layer, they reconstructed another reading of this work, highlighting the interweaving of topics. The scenography of the exhibition invites to enter the head of jcmenu, hence the circular representation. This enables to apprehend one aspect of his thinking process among many, to understand the subtle links that are formed between each element in a permanent and conscious dialogue.
On Friday November 30, the HEAD – Genève hosts the 2018 Töpffer Awards, and inaugurates the exhibition Recoins, curated by the students of the Visual Communication department, that highlights the work of this artist.
Exhibition Recoins
HEAD – Genève, Design Room, Campus Bâtiment H, Avenue de Châtelaine 7, Genève
Friday November 30
18.00 : Award ceremony of the 2018 Töpffer Awards
19.00 : Opening of the exhibition Recoins on Jean-Christophe Menu’s work
Saturday December 1
14.00 : Every 10 minutes, guided tours of the exhibition Recoins
15.00 : Eclairer les Recoins, dialogue between Jean Christophe Menu and Clément Paurd
The exhibition runs from November to December 22, 2018, and then from January 8 to 19, 2019
Opening hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 14.00 to 19.00
Project led by the Visual Communication department of HEAD – Genève, under the direction de Jérome Baratelli.