'Nouveaux Nez' is a witty, photographic series featuring aircraft noses. An affinity with the human or animal face is evoked and an individual personality is bestowed upon each plane.

Captured within the photographs is the artist's personal relationship with the aircraft, born from a childhood spent on airport runways, watching his father fly and being surrounded by the sights, smells and sounds of aviation.

The ability to draw on childhood memories has given the works a playful, humorous quality. The charismatic, life-like images are printed on 1cm thick, brushed aluminum.

The series of 31 works exploring the surface quality, texture and the cool, mechanic colours of the aircraft's construction materials, will create a powerful aesthetic within the gallery space. The presence and scale of the works are a reflection of the overwhelmed feeling Chretien felt in his youth upon seeing these dominant machines from a child's viewpoint. He photographs from this point of view today, recreating these emotions. Manolo Chretien was born in Orange, France in 1966. He currently lives and works in Blois. Chretien graduated from the prestigious ENSAAMA Olivier de Serres in Paris in 1991 and has exhibited in France, Germany, China, The Netherlands and the UK.

MAUGER MODERN ART - LONDON - dates 12th - 28th May MAUGER MODERN ART - BATH - dates 5th - 30th June

For invitations to the Special preview at either the Bath or London gallery please contact the gallery: e: info@maugermodern.com t: 0207 233 8755