Eduardo Kac

Galerie Charlot presents a solo exhibition by Eduardo Kac of his transgenic work GFP Bunny, created by the artist in 2000.

The work GFP Bunny includes the creation of a fluorescent rabbit (Alba), the public dialogue generated by this project and the social integration of the rabbit. GFP is the abbreviation for «Green Fluorescent Protein». «Alba» was an albino rabbit. She was created with a synthetic mutation of the original wild-type green fluorescent gene found in the jellyfish Aequorea Victoria. Since Alba did not have skin pigment, under normal environmental conditions she was completely white with pink eyes. She only turned fluorescent green when she was lit by the right light.

Transgenic art is a new art form based on the use of genetic engineering to transfer natural or synthetic genes to an organism, to create unique living beings. This must be done with the greatest care, taking into account the complex issues raised and, above all, by committing to respect, nurture and love the life thus created.

On the occasion of the exhibition «Fabriquer le vivant» at the Centre Pompidou, where we will find works by the artist Eduardo Kac, Galerie Charlot pays tribute to this artistic adventure, which has been the subject of countless quotations and reappropriations by both popular and academic culture. The global resonance of GFP Bunny has led Kac to develop a series of works in a variety of media, including drawing, photography, print, painting, sculpture, animation, and digital media.

This exhibition revisits the life and the media afterlife of this fluorescent rabbit that still haunts our imagination.