FRANC ALEU
Franc Aleu (Barcelona, 1966) is a multidisciplinary audio-visual artist.
Although he initially trained as a photographer, in 1989 he set up the MAAT group with other artists interested in mechanical stage installations. Since 1990 his art work has focused on video and audio-visuals.
He won an Audio-visual Award at the Catalan Government’s latest Premis Nacionals de Cultura for his striking visual creations that turn stages into unique emotional experiences. His stage videos and visual effects have captivated spectators in the world of theatre, dance and opera at performances in the world’s leading theatres and opera houses, including the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, La Monnaie in Brussels, Teatre Colón in Buenos Aires, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence and the Wiener Taschenoper in Vienna, amongst others. He has worked alongside a number of acclaimed international orchestra directors, including Zubin Mehta, Valery Georgiev, Lorin Maazel and Kirill Petrenko.
His best-known work with Àlex Ollé and Carlus Padrissa from La Fura dels Baus includes the video compositions La Atlantida, by Manuel de Falla (1996); Le Martyre de saint Sébastien, by Claude Debussy (1997); Faust 3.0 (Critics Award, 1999); La damnation de Faust, by Berlioz (1999); Le Grand Macabre, by György Ligeti (2009); and, most recently, Der Fliegende Holländer, by Richard Wagner (2014).
His other projects include the audio-visuals for the Merce Cunningham New York Dance Company commemorating the great choreographer’s 90th birthday, and El Somni, a pioneering experiment alongside the Roca brothers combining gastronomy and multiple sensory experiences (music, film, opera, poetry…).
His eclectic skills have led him to work in other creative areas, including audio-visual mappings on emblematic buildings (Barcelona City Hall, the Catalan Parliament, etc.), advertising, designing and carrying out all kinds of events, and even designing the Agua Extrema pavilion at the 2008 Expo in Zaragoza and designing and overseeing all the pavilion exhibits.
In addition to his artistic work, he also gives master classes and lectures on his work at leading cultural centres in Milan, Cologne, Madrid and Barcelona.