ARTIST
Franck ‘Zest’ Noto
France
Franck ‘Zest’ Noto was born in 1980 in Montpellier. He grew up in an artistic family and already discovered graffiti when he was eight years old. In 1995 he had his first attempt in graffiti. From there he started spraying and experienced graffiti as style of expression. With the TDM crew he felt the save fraternal setting that led him to create murals from New York to Noumea through European capitals.
Being a self-thought artist he eventually started painting in a studio around 2000. Since his debut Zest has been part of many group and solo exhibitions around the world. Zest’s artistic signature is also found on numerous murals around the globe like: Toulouse, Montpellier, St. Tropez, Bordeau, Bueno Aires, Las Vegas and Zaragoza. During his artistic pursuit the design and fashion world crossed his path, which resulted as collaborations with Philippe Starck, agnès b and Uniqlo.
Always flirting with abstract art Zest’s style of expression started to change. Sooner or later he left the rather figurative and graffiti code based style to a more contemporary, abstract and cubist direction of art. He describes that transition in style as follows: „Before my art was figurative and I was simply translating what I observed around me. However, there is a difference in translating what I see and expressing what I feel.“
Zest’s inspiration is unlimited. He is passionate about exploring harmonies between form and color, where he synthesizes the various influences to his unique style. His art works transmit and reflect the accumulation of his experiences as an active member of the graffiti world in a contemporary way. The energies found in the different disciplines are translated through the use of basic shapes and primary colors.
