(Summer Sale) SOUKHOS by Raphaël Barontini

A publication by French artist Raphaël Barontini.

A collection of works by French artist Raphaël Barontini.

In recent years, Barontini has attempted to visualize faces and bodies in black history pictorially, poetically, and politically. To this end, he explores iconography around the world, and more specifically 18th-century iconography.

Paying tribute to the symbolic and obscure figures who are deemphasized in the national context, Barontini draws from the European bourgeoisie and the royal courts of Africa to popular images and ethnographic and anthropological studies. Handles various images cross-sectionally, including archives.

Barontini is the fifth artist to be selected for the artist-in-residence program sponsored by LVMH Métiers d'Art (LVMH Métiers d'Art). I visited “Heng Long Leather”, a tannery specializing in crocodile leather in Singapore, and stayed there for production.

After learning Heng Long Leather's know-how, he used it in a series of playful experiments, opening up previously unimaginable possibilities for craftsmen. Barontini mastered a deep understanding of textiles as a medium and the printing, refining and dyeing processes of fabrics, creating a series of mounted crafts, versatile works, decorative elements and perfectly finished manifestos.

He created a group of works that are like a parade, consisting of objects. This residency took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced Berontini to change his approach.

He and photographer Alexandre Guirkinger had to use their creativity to shoot the work for this book. The duo filmed a video of the leather workshop to give an impression of the factory far from where they are based in France, and in response to travel restrictions, the Saint-Denis Cathedral in France, which has shaped Berontini's personality and inspiration. So, a new image was created by taking photos of performances incorporating works from the same series and holding sessions on the rooftop.

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Title: SOUKHOS
Artist: Raphaël Barontini
Publisher: RVB Books, 2021
Format: Softcover with slipcase, perfect binding
Size: 330 × 224 × 18 mm
Pages: 152
Language: French / English
Edition: First edition
ISBN: 9782492175022

Other titles in the LVMH Métiers d’Art programme
CHROMA by Eva Nielsen
FABRICA by Sabrina Vitali

Related article
LVMH Métiers d’Art: Artist Raphaël Barontini Completes His Residency at Heng Long Leather in Singapore (LVMH, July 8, 2020)