About
Biography.
Franck Noto (Zest) is the ambassador of a style of painting freely riding down the long road of abstraction, where color is an essence and movement his driving force. Challenging any notion of aesthetic stagnation, he strives with vigor to create artworks that synthesize his various influences, giving life to a unique and identifiable style.
“Franck Noto (Zest) is the ambassador of a style of painting freely riding down the long road of abstraction”
Born in Montpellier, he practices a painting resolutely abstract without losing sight of his figurative impulses nor of the graffiti early days that have seen him grow up. In 1995, barely 15 years old, with an irrefutable asset, that of drawing, Franck Noto (Zest) came face to face with the first street tags and graffiti of a pioneer generation.
The vibrant memories of spray paint cans clattering in his backpack, his gazing alongside the vacant lots, shaped the young man who saw an opportunity to assert his artistic personality. From a very early age, he devoted himself to educating his eye and developing his dexterity in a self-taught manner.
Later, with his TDM crew, he immersed himself in a fraternal setting that led him to sign frescoes from New York to Noumea and main European capitals. From higher and higher walls to an increasing number of projects, Franck (Zest) has been refining his style and pushing the classic codes of graffiti beyond their limits.
From his studio, he works inhabited by his early emotions, in a style flirting with abstract art. His universe is one of suggestion: the letters of his pseudonym, cubic forms, but especially feminine contours.
Franck’s mastery in gesture and proportions, which can be seen in the sophisticated postures that succeed one another, attest to the sharpening of his sense of observation over the years. Under his various tools (markers, rollers, spray paint cans, brushes and paintbrushes), the curves of a woman are generously magnified even though she remains elusive in the flood of colors and lines.
It is at this point that Franck’s experimental character and his attraction to abstraction are expressed. His compositions are built around gesture, a contemporary reminiscence of a wild-style graffiti that definitely left its mark on him.
These confident lines that intersect with projections of paint, biting on rigorously applied flat areas, Franck here confronts us with the culmination of a carefully thought-out, almost meditated work.
An abstraction of forms that he projects even in sculpture, where he finds a new way to perpetuate his exploring ambitions. Additionally, the world of design and fashion weren’t indifferent to his work as evidenced by his collaboration with Philippe Starck and Agnès b.
However, when talking about Franck’s work, a discourse on color, an obsession for him, is an obvious link. He combines colors as if they were words, and gracefully diffuses a structured, nuanced and willingly sparkling visual language.
“Franck combines colors as if they were words, and gracefully diffuses a structured, nuanced and willingly sparkling visual language.”
Admitting a weakness for fluorescent shades, he reveals a remarkable search for color associations by working with various gradients. From pastel hues to sharper tones, even venturing to the use of black, white and grays, his compositions attract the eye and flatter us with many harmonies. At the crossroad of various influences drawn from all of art’s history, Franck’s artwork brings together undeniable technical aspects, a legacy of his many years of consistency and curiosity. His paintings enrich the contemporary graffiti movement as well as the collections of painting enthusiasts in a broad sense. Despite early on being shunned by traditional art schools, devotion to his inner artistic drive has brought forth his latent talent that honors his promise to continually evolve his artistic aspirations.
TRANSLATED BY: N’JINGA FALORCA TEODORO
Artistic CV.
Solo Shows
Complex Simplicity – Art Gallery.be (Knokke-le-Zoute, Belgium – 2024)
Recto/Verso – Diego Escobar Gallery (Marseille, France – 2024)
De l’aube au crépuscule – Very Yes Gallery (Saint Pierre, Reunion Island 2023)
Collector’s dinner – Kolly Gallery (Zurich, Suisse 2023)
Jusqu’à saturation – Galerie Nicolas-Xavier (Montpellier, 2023)
Trait pour trait – Extend Gallery (Bruxelles, Belgium 2022)
Variations -Galerie Lefeuvre & Roze (Paris, France 2022)
Perception – Kolly Gallery (Zürich, Switzerland 2022)
Avec le temps – Galerie Nicolas Xavier (Montpellier, France 2021)
Indélébile – Kolly Gallery (Zürich, Switzerland 2021)
Trait de Caractère -Galerie Lefeuvre & Roze (Paris, France 2020)
Ondes – Kolly Gallery (Zürich, Switzerland 2020)
Waves – Kolly Gallery (Zürich, Switzerland 2019)
Scratch Off – Kolly Gallery (Zürich, Switzerland 2019)
Méditerranée – ArtCan Gallery (Marseille, France – 2019)
Undercover – Kolly Gallery (Zürich, Switzerland 2019)
Fréquences – Galerie At Down (Montpellier, France 2019)
RAL 5002 – Kolly Gallery (Zürich, Switzerland – 2018)
Grab Design – (Bangkok, Thaïlande, 2017)
Layers – At Down Gallery (Montpellier, France, 2017)
Strates – Artothèque (Pessac, France 2016)
Polarized – Nicolas Xavier Gallery (Montpellier, France 2016)
Prism – Clemoushka Gallery (Lyon, France 2016)
Line Up – At Down Gallery (Montpellier, France 2015)
Zest – At Down Gallery (Montpellier, France 2013)
Group Shows
Knotenpunkt – Affenfaust Gallery (Hamburg, Germany 2023)
Smoke gets in your eyes – avec Mambo, Galerie 44309 (Dortmund, Germany 2022)
Private Choice (Paris, France, 2021)
Ad Vim Extermina – ArtCan Gallery (Marseille, France, 2021)
Page Blanche Galerie Nicolas-Xavier (France, 2020)
Eclipse Fondation Leclerc Concarneau – (France 2019)
Exposition Estival – Rasson Art Gallery (Tournai, Belgique 2019)
We are Black – Art Can Gallery (Marseille, France 2018)
Copendium – Treason Gallery (Seattle, Wa-Usa 2017)
Nu Geometry Mirus Gallery, (San Francisco, Ca-Usa, Juillet 2017)
Stolen Space Gallery (London, Juillet 2017)
Three O’clock Bomma Gallery (Nice, France, Juin 2017)
Bomk Pener Zest Galerie Nicolas-Xavier (France, Juin 2017)
Exhibition Sap Metropolink (Heidelberg, Allemagne, Mai 2017)
Swiss Chocolate , Kolly Gallery Espace Oppidum (Paris, Avril 2017)
Abv Gallery (Atlanta, Ga-Usa, Janvier 2017)
Gamma Proforma Gallery (Londres, R.U., Décembre 2016)
Who’s Your Daddy? (Lausanne, Suisse, Septembre 2016)
Mister Freeze (Toulouse, France 2016)
Bomma Gallery (Paris, France, 2016)
G-Shock vs Urban art – Galerie Open Space (Paris, France 2016)
Transfert#6 Installation (Bordeaux, France 2016)
Urban art factory – Musée du Saut du Tarn (Saint Juery France 2016)
Délicatement Brutal – Galerie St Laurent (Marseille, France 2016)
Mister Freeze (Toulouse, France 2015)
Outline2 – Saint-Ravy, Gallery & Montana Gallery (Montpellier, France 2015)
Kaleidoscope – Speerstra Gallery (Bursins, Suisse, 2015)
Ride the Wall – (Genève, Suisse 2014)
SMASH 137-TILT-ZEST At down Gallery (Montpellier, France 2014)
One more year – Backside Gallery (Marseille, France 2014)
Mister Freeze (Toulouse, France 2014)
Outline – Saint-Ravy Gallery & Montana Gallery (Montpellier, France 2013)
3P2A La Cité des Savoirs et des Sports de PIERRE VIVES (Montpellier, France 2013)
Deck’on – Brugier Rigail Gallery (Paris, France 2012)
Murals & Performances
Solid’Art Montpellier sponsor – Secours Populaire 2023
Pont André Vézinhet (Montpellier, France, 2022)
Jubilee Art – United Arabes Emirates Year of the Fiftieth (Dubaï, UAE, 2021)
Prendre le large (Montpellier, France 2021) pour Achille Nebout
Le M.U.R. de Pérols (Lattes, France, 2021)
K-Live Festival (Sète, France, 2020)
Urvanity (Madrid, Espagne 2020)
« 100 ans de Soulages » Musée Fabre – (Montpellier, France 2020)
Gare St Roch – (Montpellier, France 2019)
Gare de Bordeaux Pessac – (Pessac, France 2019)
EFAP ICART – (Lille, France 2019)
Vestia – (Montpellier, France 2019)
Hôpital Gui de Chauliac – (Montpellier, France 2019)
Ministère de l’éducation, Masterclass Project Dubai – (Emirat Arab Unis, Avril 2019)
Jas de bouffan – (Aix en Provence, France 2019)
Pow ! Wow ! Worcester Festival – (Worcester, Massachusetts, Septembre 2018)
Marché du Lez – (Lattes, France – Juillet 2018)
Coop Live Festival – (Puilacher, France – Juin 2018)
Teenage Kicks Festival – (Nantes, France – 2017)
Life is Beautiful Festival – (Las Vegas, NV – USA – 2017)
Asalto Festival – (Zaragoza, Espagne – 2017)
Uniqlo – (Montpellier, France – 2017)
Metropolink Festival – (Heidelberg, Allemagne – 2017)
Trama Festival – (Buenos Aires, Argentine – 2017)
Street Art Avenue (Aubervilliers, France, 2016)
Caisse D’epargne – (Montpellier, France – 2016)
Agnes B. Boutique – (Montpellier, France – 2016)
Wonderful Agency – (Montpellier, France – 2016)
Toy Story Festival – (Brest, France – 2016)
Primary Abstract Festival – (Bordeaux, France – 2016)
Street Art on the Roc Festival – (Villars-Fontaine, France – 2016)
Chez B. – Agnes B. (Marseille, France – 2015)
Sculpture & Fresque – Métropolitan Hélénis Résidence – (Montpellier, France – 2015)
Fresque Waitin’ – At Down Gallery (Montpellier, France – 2015)
Philippe Starck – Mobilier Tog + Rbc Performance (Montpellier, France – 2014)
Zest – (Nouméa, New Caledonia – 2009)
GALLERY
Galerie Very Yes – https://galerieveryyes.com/ (Saint Pierre, La Réunion)
Rhodes Gallery – https://rhodescontemporaryart.com/ (Londres,Angleterre)
Artflash – https://artflash.net/ (Berlin,Allemagne)
Affenfaust Gallery – https://affenfaustgalerie.de/ (Hambourg,Allemagne)
44309 Gallery – https://44309gallery.net/ (Dortmund, Allemagne)
Gallery Diego Escobar – https://galerie-escobar.com/en (Marseille, France)
Gallery At Down – www.galerie-atdown.com/en/ (Montpellier, France)
Gallery Nicolas Xavier – www.galerienicolasxavier.com/en/ (Montpellier, France)
Kolly Gallery – www.kollygallery.ch/ (Zurich, Switzerland)
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