Rachel & Rosco

Rachel & Rosco is a collection of 77 previously unpublished drawings, produced using a four-coloured biro. Each drawing is reproduced actual size on a whole page and represents a recurring theme: a woman (or girl) accompanied by her dog.

These drawings, which have no additional information–neither captions nor texts, and are not preceded by a preface, are the almost identical reproduction of original photographs selected by the artist. It is therefore no surprise to find, here and there, the entries (date, time…) often found on digital photographs.

The use of a four-coloured Bic biro, everyday object, commonplace, little used by artists and technically concise, evokes the drawings that everyone, at one time or another, has done in the margins of our school books. Copying, with this technique, ‘iconic’ images drawn from the surrounding world, refers to a child-like method of identification, reproduction and accumulation.

By the repeated transcription of everyday scenes, Jacques Floret makes friendly faces of the couple Rachel and Rosco, images straight out of a private album that could be our own, bringing readers together around a common memory. This is why Rachel and Rosco do not have their own identity. They form a single, obsessive theme –a woman, a dog– the characters vary and the poses change: depending on the drawing, Rachel assumes different faces and Rosco changes breed. Fugitives from a family album, photos ‘stolen’ from their private setting, these images also bear the emotional burden of childhood, of departed moments and an emotional situation where the absence of a male figure suggests a view that could be fetishist: a woman, a dog, symbol of love and fidelity, an invisible photographer…

This colour book is intended equally for amateurs of contemporary art as animal lovers.