URBAN GUIDE

This Nice artist in his thirties looks like an ordinary chap but the multiple strings to his bow – painter, sculptor, author, editor – put him in a class of one. He has just brought out a well-received comic book.

It was Michel Bounous, head of publishers Baie des Anges, who spurred Jérémy Taburchi to produce Dr Chat Rose et Mister Strange (Dr Pink Cat and Mr Strange), a story about double identity. Pink Cat is a cute but perverse figure that Jérémy created around 2000, "doubtless an alter ego," quips the artist, who features his cat in paintings, sculptures and comic books. The first book, publi­shed in 2009, was a compilation of comic strips commenting on current affairs; the one just out tells an amusing and impertinent story. "I didn’t want a ‘media object’. I set out to tell a story that fits with my artistic logic, my creative research. I pro­duced it spontaneously, letting my imagination and the character guide me," its author explains. Pink Cat – "pink because it’s a fun colour" – helps him "communicate messages more easily, by connecting with the child that’s inside all of us". Because he’s a local artist, Jérémy automatically set his story in Nice, incorporating references to notable events in the region and making use of some choice insults you only hear around here! But his work is more caricatural than stating identity.

Art is an adventure
Jérémy is a self-taught artist. He’s middle-class, was a rather solitary only child, "didn’t like foot­ball!" So started drawing then painting when in his mid-teens. Trained in IT. Worked with an interior decorator, which triggered his interest in materials. One medium of expression isn’t enough for him: "Artists should try everything. Confining them­selves to one discipline contradicts what they should be: adventurers! Sweeping away barriers allows society to evolve. Tradition, which I respect, is something else. That’s part of everyone’s history, our roots." That open mind led the artist to create Lou Can ("the dog" in Niçois but also the acro­nym of Chronique Artistique Niçoise), a literature and art magazine that promotes local creatives, its only proviso being a theme for each issue; this autumn: "the future". Lou Can, which Jérémy edits, "brings artists together, creates connec­tions, opens painting up to writers and writing up to artists". It also "encourages people to leave their caves, their habits". A proactive stand to further free­dom of expression, and a huge personal commitment.

Endless seeking
Jérémy has boundless energy (he also runs his own graphic design company) and a mind that never stops seeking: "I refuse to do the same thing twice, even if it might be profitable. I continue experimenting. My next exhibition will use new technologies, unexpected materials and supports. Pink Cat will still be the main subject but in a new form." Projects and ideas aplenty, just not enough time! Time, for example, "to write the second Artistes sous Antibios, a surrealistic, amusing book of 14 true-false biographies of Niçois artists." An original way of "citing the artists' traits of character through invented identities". And another demonstration of that insa­tiable curiosity that nourishes our own.

EXHIBITION

The original drawings for Dr Chat Rose et Mister Strange are on exhibition throughout August at the Franck Michel contemporary art gallery, which opened recently at 28 Rue Ségurane in Nice’s antiques district.
www.latelierfranckmichel.fr - www.taburchi.com