Alain Séchas at Le Consortium: Drawing as Weapon

Alain Séchas's exhibition at Le Consortium in Dijon (September 24, 2001 – February 2, 2002) showcased his conviction that drawing can generate cinema, sculpture, and political commentary. The show attacked the art world directly, featuring a drawing of a Jenny Holzer light box bearing the inscription 'Take the bull by the horns.' Séchas employed simple means—text, darkness, and a curtain—to create a room titled 'Jurassic Pork,' a tourist-like cave where visitors used torches to see walls covered with brutal, crude signs. At the center, a winged pig allegorized power. The artist expressed disgust with McDonald's and certain press signatures. Other works, such as the paintings 'Haut les pattes' and 'Lolita' paired with sculptures, placed Séchas in the lineage of Roy Lichtenstein. A slide projector demonstrated that drawing can be as saucy as pornographic photography, and funnier. Earlier, at the Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain in Strasbourg, Séchas had exhibited a giant articulated spider caricaturing 'the return of the rich.' In Dijon, he exulted in using simple means, contrasting with the technical and financial resources required for the Strasbourg piece.