Eric Bottero :  » Grace » – From waste to preciousness

Cans, cups, wires, newspaper, plastic bags... Thanks to the imagination of Beninese designer-costumier Prince Toffa, these wastes have become textiles, embroideries and weavings, for court coats or long, flowing skirts. A whole post-modern philosophy of reclaiming and recycling abandoned materials, embracing the symbolism of the philosopher's stone, an alchemy that mutates waste into the precious, and extracts beauty from it. When Éric Bottero discovered Prince Toffa's work in Cotonou, he had only one idea in mind: to use his fashion photography to express ethnic and mystical ideas. But Prince Toffa doesn't just create breathtaking, dreamlike outfits; he also makes models wear them, or adorns himself in performances to tell the story of his culture, to plunge us into the deep end of animism and bring us face to face with the deities of voodoo.

Born in Paris in 1968, Eric Bottero began his career as a photographer in the early 1990s. He began working for various clients in the textile and clothing accessory sectors. This work led him to work as a fashion photographer, for the press and advertising.
At the end of the 1990s, Eric Bottero turned to experimental photography and began to explore its various aspects. This marked the start of a career on the artistic scene, which he pursued in parallel with his commercial career in fashion. He works in particular with color negatives. He enhanced his negatives by hand, using inks, pigments and engravings. He also tackles the photographic print itself, enhancing it with paints and engravings.
Invited to Benin for an artist residency at the Centre d'Art de Cotonou in 2017, he immerses himself in Vodou culture and confirms his love for Africa. He returns to Cotonou in January 2019 and initiates a series of portraits of performer Prince Toffa in the company of female models dressed in his creations made from salvaged materials. Since 2019 and until 2021, several exhibitions have been created around this collaboration with the Beninese artist.
But the artist is already exploring new avenues. More and more of his work is done outdoors. He gets closer to nature, and embarks on a project in which the forest becomes the central subject of a series of triptychs. Once again, his technique is put to the test. This was the beginning of gold leaf printing and cold enamel finishing.