Michel François Brings Industrial and Common Materials to Life at Galleria Alfonso Artiaco

Belgian artist Michel François (born 1956 in Saint-Trond, lives in Brussels) presents a solo exhibition at Galleria Alfonso Artiaco in Naples, featuring works made from industrial waste and everyday materials. The show includes photographs, sculptures, and installations that seem to emerge from the gallery walls, inviting visitor interpretation. A standout series is the hyperrealistic octopuses: three ceramic bas-reliefs where enamel and ceramic clash with the power of black ink, referencing the animal's defense mechanism. In two separate rooms, spherical forms vaguely suggest an eye or a head, their meaning left open. Materials include wood (cubes fixed to walls like meteor trails), ceramic, and aluminum. A silver cast forms an abstract sculpture highlighting the liquid-solid transition, while a large blue-reflective aluminum cube conveys both monumentality and precariousness. The exhibition was conceived exclusively for the gallery: aluminum was supplied by a rolling company in San Marco Evangelista (Caserta), and the octopus series was produced at Santorielab in Vietri sul Mare (Amalfi Coast). François asserts that there is always a new way to perceive reality, where everything becomes possible with different lights and forms.