anima 054, 2008
digital print
15.75 x 23.62 inches; 40 x 60 centimeters
Edition of 12
Jean-Francois Spricigo, the 2008 Laureate of the Prix de Photographie de l’Académie des Beaux-Arts, may well be the most articulate animal advocate on record. His critically acclaimed photographic series ‘anima’ documents the psychological complexity of the animal kingdom. Spricigo’s extreme sensitivity to the physical reality of each animal creates images, shot entirely in black and white, that transmit the emotional insight of movie stills.
Horses dissolve into the mists of their surrounding fields, cats study themselves in their owner’s mirror and birds echo the shapes of tree branches as they return to the sky. In Spricigo’s evocative landscapes, humans are absent and the animals speak for themselves. Astonishingly, through the artist’s provocative lens, we can see what it must feel to be one of them.
In addition to the artist’s aforementioned award, Spricigo is also the 2008 Photographer Laureate of the Fondation Belge de la Vocation and was nominated for the 2009 prize discovery at the Rencontres d’Arles. Mr. Spricigo’s work has been featured in numerous galleries throughout Europe and ‘anima’ has just concluded an extremely successful exhibition at the prestigious l’Institut de France.
The artist’s exhibition with Louis Stern Fine Arts, in conjunction with FLAX (France Los Angeles Exchange), is his initial showing in the United States.