Hugo Servanin

The work of Hugo Servanin revolves around the creation of sculptures that the artist calls Géants [Giants]: hybrid beings that are first moulded on human bodies and then assembled with an array of synthetic materials. Referencing the aesthetics of classical sculpture – busts or naked bodies displayed on plinths – Servanin’s Géants express the visceral, fragile and ephemeral nature of human bodies. These characteristics are conveyed through the minute study of the bodies’ armatures and an empirical approach of materials. Once his sculptures are shaped, Servanin composes immersive installations in which, using a wide range of advanced technologies and artificial intelligence, he attempts to recreate the conditions of organic life. Acting like a scientist in his laboratory, Servanin is constantly inventing new methods to animate his sculptures; for instance, by using humidification/evaporation procedures which progressively modify their shape and surface colour; heat monitoring incubators that crackle their epidermis; ventilators that make them breathe; or complex mechanical systems distributing their body fluids. By bridging traditions of ‘good form’ with cutting-edge technologies, Servanin composes alternative environments through which he critically analyses the success and failure of the cornucopian civilization we live in. ...

NıCOLETTı is a London-based gallery committed to supporting the development of emerging artists. Founded in 2018 as an itinerant curatorial project, the gallery opened its first permanent space in 2019. NıCOLETTı’s programme focuses on researching and supporting emerging artists in the realization of institutional projects and museum presentations. Many of the artists represented by the gallery have held their first UK solo exhibition at NıCOLETTı and have subsequently exhibited in prominent international institutions and biennials. The gallery presents a diverse range of conceptually-driven practices, with a particular emphasis on how aesthetics can offer new perspectives on pressing socio-political issues. ...