Discursive Mechanics, Fred Penelle et Yannick Jacquet

©Yannick Jacquet, Mécaniques Discursives, Perte de signal (2016), WOODCUT PRINT, VIDEO PROJECTION, OBJECTS, SOUND, 700X250CM

Like an interlude between two eras, the age of Gutenberg and the advent of ‘big data’.

“Frédéric Penelle’s ferocious prints and Yannick Jacquet’s razor-sharp video art – or perhaps the other way round – make up a delirious alphabet of an implausible factory of the world, timeless hybrid mythology neatly and playfully narrating the undeniable evidence of the world’s senselessness, the genesis of the untraceable precedence between chicken and eggs, between scientists and their machines, and between brains and their hallucinations. This implacably preposterous display splutters and smirks – mostly – at our uncontrolled floods and smokes, our mechanical vanities.”  François Delvoye 

For almost ten years, the Mécaniques Discursives project has brought together Fred Penelle and Yannick Jacquet, two visual artists whose complementary practices are as distinct as they are complementary: wood engraving and contemporary digital creation. In 2011, the two artists embarked on a four-handed project to create a disconcerting, resolutely contemporary graphic universe spanning all ages and fashions. Casting an ironic eye on our society, the artists have built up a sophisticated and uncompromising vocabulary, bridging the gap between the eras of Gutenberg and Big Data. 

The artists have held more than 90 exhibitions worldwide, and their singular, innovative approach has aroused the interest of art critics and the general public alike. In 2021, the City of Brussels commissioned a permanent installation for its public space, visible on the Boulevard Anspach.