Frédéric PAJAK Manifeste Incertain
Presentation
Volume 11 of Manifeste Incertain is due out this autumn – which also marks 800 years since the death, in his home town, of St Francis of Assisi. Pure coincidence, or…?
The book opens with the kind of patchwork found in almost every volume of Manifeste Incertain, a mixture of personal reflections – on old age, cooking, evenings spent in bars – and intimate memories. It goes on to introduce the figure of Francis of Assisi, his life, his efforts to establish the Primitive Rule and his influence on the future of the Catholic Church. A wealthy merchant’s son who severed ties with his family to devote himself to a life of mendicancy and absolute poverty, Il Poverello spoke almost as an equal to popes, buoyed by his immense popularity in Italy and beyond. His was an exceptional story. But the book also focuses on the era itself – that span between the 12th and 13th centuries which historians have termed the "Early Renaissance", a period that saw the dawn of cathedral building, the birth of universities and the triumph of commerce and a coin-based economy. While loathing money and usury, Francis found himself at the head of a movement that was tolerant, and even supportive, of the merchant class and a precursor to the sort of capitalist ethos later championed by Protestants.
The book highlights the successes, failures and contradictions of the inimitable Francis, who sacrificed health and personal gain to follow the path of Christ – to the point of appearing distinctly Christ-like himself.
Summarising what we know about Francis, the text is both erudite and entirely accessible, and is accompanied by some 200 of the author’s drawings. The exhibition presents a selection of drawings from the book, alongside others taken from previous “manifestes”. Pen and brush drawings, executed in Indian ink and featuring a play of light and shadow, these works may perhaps be seen as a response to Degas’s remark that if he “had seen things better” he “would have painted in black and white!"
OPENING
Saturday 26 September 2026
at 6 p.m
in the presence of the artist
EXHIBITION
From Friday 25 September
to Saturday 24 October 2026
PARIS | Chapon
19-21 rue Chapon 75003 Paris
Wednesday > Friday 1.30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Saturday 12 p.m. - 7 p.m.