Since last week, around fifteen sculptures entitled Mister pinksignature of the eccentric Philippe Katerine, are located throughout the Quartier des spectacles and downtown Montreal. Are you going out? had the chance to chat with the French artist in the refectory of the Esplanade Tranquille a few hours before the launch of the Cutenessa name shared by the sculpture trail revealed and the artistic movement dictated by its sole leader.
Until September 29, Philippe Katerine’s plump pink men, whether they are climbing a building, enthroned in the middle of the Eaton Center or playing basketball, will undoubtedly bring a smile to Montreal passers-by. The course was notably presented earlier in Shanghai, Stockholm and Paris.
” My report [avec la sculpture] is very narrow, explains Philippe Katerine, who is known in particular for his musical career and his roles in the cinema. Since I was a child, I have been drawing, making sculptures, small objects. I need to express myself, it’s always been like that. Sometimes I don’t say a word all day, but in any case, I draw. »
THE Mister pink are part of the movement cuteistwhich “aims to identify what seems very cute, but which at the same time escapes people most of the time”.
“It’s only me who decides if it’s cuteist or not, so we are really in a dictatorship,” jokes Philippe Katerine. From what we understand, Cuteness still slowly taking its shape, the current is still cool. To try to understand it better, we asked Philippe Katerine to compare Cuteness to various concepts such as:
- A season : “An intermediate season, autumn or spring. »
- A song : “ THE grenadine heart by Laurent Voulzy. »
- A garment : “A sheepskin bulletproof vest. »
- A moment of the day : ” The digestion. »
- A flower : “A metal flower. »
- A football/soccer player : “Frankly, Mbappé is really very cute. Cuteness is also never far from being funny. Because comedy is often people who are funny without doing it on purpose. And that’s a bit the case for Mbappé. »
- A smell : “A smell of sweat, of course. »
- An actor : ” Vincent Cassel. Because it’s the same, he’s very funny, but without wanting to be. »
During the interview, Philippe Katerine also delved into the genesis of the creation of his friendly Mister pink.
“I think it’s a projection of myself. It was during confinement, I wanted to make this man with pink modeling clay, explains Philippe Katerine. [Il] drags a lot of people, a lot of influences behind him, which it would not even be possible to decipher. It’s a guy that contains lots of guys. »
Philippe Katerine, active in the music industry since the early 90s, will release a new album next month singletitled Under my boba presage of an album to be released in the fall of 2024. The French artist recorded a handful of songs with Hubert Lenoir, which could perhaps be found on the final version of the project.
Echoing the journey Cutenesswhich was launched on May 7 not far from the Complexe Desjardins, Philippe Katerine presented a conference-concert at the Cinquième Salle, in Montreal, another at La Nef, in Quebec, in addition to taking part in a signing session .
A digital work inspired by the journey Cuteness and created by Montreal artist Jérémy Fassio, in collaboration with Philippe Katerine, is currently broadcast around the Saint-Laurent metro station, through a mosaic of screens located inside Place des Arts and on the facade of the Wilder Building, landmark of the Agora of Dance.
