Panic Rev 2 Frédéric Platéus

Frédéric Platéus accelerates his ongoing process of assembling highly polished, sleek sculptural wall objects for Panic Rev 2.

His love for form and surface is manifested in using designs and logos from motor-cross, car parts, racing cars or bikes that he plays with in amusement, but with technically precise sophistication.

The acceleration can be seen in his objects that seem to make us feel as though we want to go bigger and faster as the term ‘panic rev’ suggests – it is a procedure done to bikes to help them jump over higher obstacles on the way to the finish line.

Logos and brand names on the PVC surface of these pieces create a unique language that reveal male fantasies of speed and horsepower. Reminded of Andy Warhol who realized the seductive power and beauty in everyday things, advertising and shops, Platéus uses forms and brand fragments that seem familiar. He seduces us with things that supposedly already seduced us.

By repeating the already familiar we feel as if we know Platéus’ artworks, yet he always finds new arrangements and combinations of shapes and colors. Void of any function except for the creation of desirability, the objects develop a fetish character: “you need to let the little things that would ordinarily bore you suddenly thrill you”, Warhol once said.

Resembling ‘ready-mades’ we know from Pop Art, Platéus’ sculptures are distinct in their sensational attractiveness, fusing gloss and matte surfaces that provoke both admiration and a desire to touch them. With a unique precision the artist analyses materials and finds innovative ways to create highly contemporary futuristic objects.

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