Stéphane Moscato

Description

The works of Stéphane Moscato generally involve the interplay of pochoir, or stencil graffiti, and décollage, the finding, tearing, and recombining of poster assemblages. His topics lie in the Anthropocene, contemporary society, and civilization with its ambivalent relationship to the animalistic. The protagonists depicted frequently boast animal heads, the import of which oscillates between masking and unmasking. Les mains d'or, located in the Burden Shed of the Völklingen Ironworks, is a painting on a provisional wall—a panel painting.
The allegorical figure, a fox, is forming a magically glowing sphere from the searing iron ore. The figure is a symbolic representation of the Völklingen metallurgical workers, as well as for the anthro-historical influence of the principles of metallurgy. Without direct contact with the hands, the material hovers within the energetic center. Moscato is "fascinated by the inconceivable forces" which, as in the myth of Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire and smithery, are used "to create matter."