— FRESCOES —

Inferno

¬ The murderers of history

2 x 2.8 m | 2009
Printed in 5 copies on 5mm Dibond (direct to plate)
Winner of the Grand Prix at ArtGallery Milano 2010

Why do some humans choose to kill? The reasons are varied: is it revenge that drives them to cross the irreversible line? An ideology so strong that it transforms murder into a justifiable act in defense of a cause? Or is it an uncontrollable, almost animal impulse that they seek to satisfy without remorse? What happens in their minds that makes them cross that invisible line, a point of no return that most of us fear to approach? Is it a distortion of reality, or a total loss of empathy? What distinguishes us is this capacity to feel the pain of others, to imagine the consequences of our actions. The preservation of life seems natural, but how can we explain the moment when, for some, this law becomes obsolete? Murderers seem to devalue human life, as if they were in another fight, that of a ring where moral rules are suspended. But perhaps this line, crossed by those who choose to kill, is an internal struggle, a fight between the human and the animal that lies dormant in each of us.

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INTRODUCTION ‘The frescoes’ | JEAN-MARIE WYNANTS | Journalist | 2021 — The mural, for Lucas Racasse, is the magnum opus, the firework finale, the moment when all constraints blow apart. It’s where the artist lets loose, conjuring up encounters as improbable as they are exhilarating, crafting crowds made up entirely of familiar faces that viewers can spend hours identifying, one by one. While murals have often served to glorify the feats of our great men, the way Racasse seizes the genre throws out the rulebook entirely. Borrowing the faces of political, media, scientific, athletic, religious, philosophical, and musical figures, he assembles impossible gatherings that make us dream, hallucinate, laugh—or wince. In Wonderland, the planet’s 100 richest personalities roar with laughter as they’re hurled along runaway roller coasters shaped like golden calves, while the apocalypse rages all around. In Inferno, history’s most notorious murderers cheer wildly at a boxing match between Cain and Abel, refereed by none other than Adolf Hitler. The Blessed Bath takes dozens of gods, saints, preachers, and other religious icons on a dip in paradisiacal waters. And he pushes even further in Belgica Sexicæ Unita, taking the phrase “Belgian mess” quite literally by staging a gigantic orgy with all our political figures. Iconoclast, Racasse? No doubt about it. And he goes to great lengths to find, on each face, the perfect expression to match the role he assigns. But this contemporary Michelangelo doesn’t just revel in portraying the dark follies of the world. Sometimes he leaves Dante’s Inferno behind and leads us into Paradise. That’s how we get a spectacular gathering of hundreds of artists in a Parliamento we’d love to attend. Or a massive demonstration of global celebrities rallying behind the slogan “Free the Images.” Not to mention Midnight in Belgium, where all the country’s iconic figures gather around a fry stand in front of the Royal Palace. “Formidable!” laughs Stromae. “Surreal!” chuckles Magritte at the sight of a dancing fry and a Manneken Pis perched atop the Yellow Mark. And you can bet that in just a heartbeat, they’ll all be howling in chorus with Arno: “Damn, damn, it’s bloody great!” Excerpt from the book Every Day Is Picture Day, published in 2022.

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—RING ■ Abel vs Caïen ■ Referee: Adolphe Hitler —LODGE ■ Death and its Pooches ■ Dogs: Lamastu, Baal, ■ Yeou-Ying-Kong & Zagam —AROUND THE RING LEFT ■ Marc Dutroux ■ Guy George ■ David Berkowitz ■ Mengistu Haile Mariam ■ Francis Heaulme ■ Arthur Gary Bishop ■ Pedro Lopez ■ Charles Manson ■ François Ravachol ■ Jo Atia ■ Slobodan Milosevic ■ Kim Il Sung ■ Pereira Francisco de Assis ■ Groom #1 ■ Charles Starkweather ■ Caril Ann Fugat —AROUND THE RING CENTER ■ Marcel Petiot ■ Benito Mussolini ■ Lee Harvey Oswald ■ Augusto Pinochet ■ Kim Jong II ■ Saloth Sar "Polpot" ■ Monique Olivier ■ Michel Fourniret ■ Hiro Hito —AROUND THE RING RIGHT ■ Ilich Ramírez Sánchez ■ "Carlos le Chacal" ■ Simone Weber ■ "The Diabolique of Nancy" ■ Marcus Wesson ■ Henri VIII of England ■ Herman Goering ■ François Duvalier "Papa doc" ■ Matthew Macon ■ Donald Ray Wallace Jr. ■ Abe Reles ■ Albert Anastasia ■ Andras Pandy ■ Ameli Adyer ■ Armin Meiwes ■ Jacob Gurrah Shapiro ■ Marquise de Brinvilliers ■ Groom #4 ■ Lucky Luciano ■ Louis Lepke Buchalter ■ Bugsy Siegel ■ Genghis Khan. —SEATS VIP ■ Bin Ladden ■ Étienne Gnassingbé Eyadéma ■ Joseph Staline ■ Jack l'Éventreur ■ Sadam Hussein ■ Ian Brady ■ Henri Désiré Landru ■ Mary Hindley ■ Radovan Karadzic ■ Atilla le Un■ Al Capone ■ Paul Bernardo ■ Karla Homolka ■ Mobutu Sese Seko ■ Florence Rey ■ Albert Fish ■ Aileen Carol Wuornos ■ Idi Amin Dada ■ Ariel Sharon ■ Napoléon Bonaparte Ier ■ Mao Zedong ■ Richard Speck —SEATS ■ Germaine Berton (main levée) ■ Harvey Carignan ■ Salvatore Gravano ■ Christine Papin (round 111) ■ Enver Hoxha ■ Charles Arthur "Pretty boy" ■ Deng Xiaoping ■ Henri Chamberlain ■ Cartouche ■ Meles Zenawi ■ Yuan Shikai ■ Irma Grese ■ John Wayne Gacy ■ Sani Abacha ■ Alfredo Stroessner ■ Andrei Chikatilo ■ Paulin Thierry ■ Emile Buisson ■ Francisco Franco ■ Jorge Videla ■ Tommy Jerry Fortenberry ■ Leopold II of Belgium ■ John Uffy ■ Violette Noziere ■ Milivoj Asner ■ Mouammar Kadafi ■ Alexandre Pitchouchkine ■ Michael Hughes ■ Adolf Eichmann ■ Josip Broz "Tito" ■ Michel Martin ■ Gilles de Rais ■ José Efraín Ríos Montt ■ Peter Sutcliffe ■ "The Yorkshire Venturer" ■ Fulgencio Batista Zaldivar ■ John Armstrong ■ Manuel Noriega ■ Caius Augustus Germanicus ■ "Caligula" ■ Nicolae Ceausescu ■ Philippe Pétain ■ Leon Czolgosz ■ Hissène Habré ■ Abel Danos ■ Fritz Haarmann ■ Janos Kadar ■ António de Oliveira Salazar ■ Dorothea Puente ■ Joachim Kroll ■ Vito Genovese ■ Samuel Kanyon Doe ■ Audrey Hilley (escalier) ■ Clark Barbara ■ Jacques Messerine ■ John George Haigh ■ Carl Panzram ■ Paul Steven Haight ■ Yates Robert Jr. ■ Tojo Hideki ■ Richardchase ■ Antonio Rosales ■ Omar Hassan Ahmad Al- bashir ■ Joseph Vacher ■ Butts Vernon ■ E.T.A. ■ Peter Kürten ■ Katherine Knight ■ Norman Richard Cleary ■ Elisabeth Bathory ■ Albert De Salvo ■ Henry Wallace ■ Shirley Winters ■ Marie-Anne Charlotte ■ Corday d'Armont ■ Steven T. Judy ■ Tommie J. Smith ■ Robert Godbout ■ Cho Seung-Hui ■ William Moore ■ "boucher de Shankill" ■ Lea Mason "boucher de Boston" ■ Samir Kantar ■ "boucher de Milwaukee" ■ Ku Klux Klan ■ Bande à Bonnot ■ Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah ■ Luis Cervantes Salazar ■ Ashraf Mohamedy ■ Edgar Ray Killen (kkk) ■ Baitullah Mehsud ■ Jean-Bedel Bokassa ■ Jeffrey Dahmer ■ Buford Furrow ■ Daniel Cowart ■ Paul Schlesselman ■ Robert William Pickton ■ Levi Bellfield ■ Francisco Macias Nguema ■ Pedro Salvori ■ Frank Collin ■ Philip Jablonski ■ William Balfour ■ Charles Taylor ■ Peter Bryan ■ Ira Sean MacStiofain ■ David Carpenter ■ Eugène Weidmann ■ Gary Ridgway ■ Ed Gein ■ Onoprienko ■ Herman Mudgett ■ Edmund Kemper ■ Gerald Armond Gallego ■ Innocent III ■ Catherine Deshayes La Voisin ■ Ayman Al Zawahiri ■ Jose Ernesto Medellin ■ James Edward Martinez ■ David Martinez ■ Virgil Euristi Martinez ■ John Joseph Romano ■ Les Pauvres Chevaliers du Christ ■ et du Temple de Salomon ■ Suradji Ahmad ■ Tomas Grant Ervin ■ Gustavo Adolfo Morales. ■ Conrad de Marbourg ■ "l'inquisiteur" ■ Tomas de Torquemada ■ "l'inquisiteur" ■ Robert Le Bougre "l'inquisiteur" ■ Bernard Gui "l'inquisiteur" ■ Jack Kevorkian ■ Rex Chase ■ Nathaniel Code Jr. ■ Stephen K. Johns ■ Jerome Mallett ■ Gregory Resnover ■ Master Builder Herbert ■ Jerry Brudos ■ David Leon Woods ■ Jessy Carlos San Miguel ■ Barry Mosley ■ Ahmad Fahrul Rosi ■ Sam Giancana ■ Frank Moore ■ Frances Elaine Newton ■ Richard Wade Cooey ■ Antonio Rosales ■ Westley Allan Dodd ■ Rodolpho Baiza Hernandez ■ Martha Beck ■ Dennis Nilsen ■ Fred Marion Gilreath Jr. ■ Karla Faye Tucker ■ Eric Charles Nenno ■ Marco Allen Chapman ■ Judias V. Buenoano ■ Marilyn Kay Plantz ■ Mark Dean Schwab ■ Mark Andrew Fowler ■ Robert Hansen ■ Greg Miley ■ Leonard Nelson ■ Jermaine Herron ■ Daniel Joe Hittle ■ Bonin William ■ Dorsie Leslie "Wayne" Jones Jr. ■ Allen Wayne Janecka ■ Stephen Wayne Anderson ■ John L. Wheat ■ Ferdinand Marcos ■ Sarah Marie Johnson ■ Carl Junior Isaacs ■ Timothy Krajcir ■ Joseph Kallinger ■ Beverly Allitt ■ Mollah Omar ■ Mose Young Jr. ■ Lynda Lyon Block ■ Alvie James Hale Jr. ■ Wayne Tompkins ■ Lois Nadean Smith ■ Robert Otis Coulson ■ Warren White ■ Wanda Jean Allen ■ Christopher James Beck ■ Richard Charles Johnson ■ Richard William Kutzner ■ Clyde Barrow ■ Bonnie Parker ■ Barbeault Marcel ■ Angelo Richard ■ Bobbie Sue Terrell ■ Alton Coleman ■ Javed Iqbal ■ Anthonio Gonzalez ■ Andrews Ralph ■ Sergei Tkach ■ Robert Berdella ■ Judy Buenoano ■ Jones Genene ■ Kenneth Bianchi ■ Richard Kuklinski ■ Thwala Sipho ■ Adam G. ■ Mcbeth Body ■ Latoya Smith ■ Arthur Shawcross ■ Beautiful Gunness ■ Mary Ann Cotton ■ Charlene Adell Williams ■ Dewitt Neil ■ Roger Degueldre OAS ■ Terry Lyn Short ■ Joseph Nissensohn ■ Klaus Barbie ■ Frances Knorr ■ Velma Margie Barfield ■ Issei Sagawa ■ Jean Bastin Thiry OAS ■ Baron Cesar ■ Betrand Cantat ■ Richard Ramirez ■ Rafiq Hassain Kashmiri ■ Albert Dovecar OAS ■ Claude Piegts OAS ■ Dean Corll ■ Ronald J. Dominique ■ Christine Falling —LEFT BALCONY ■ Edwin Hall ■ Suff William Lester ■ Velaphi Sgananda ■ Ndlangamandla ■ Henry Lee Lucas ■ Jim Nice Jr. ■ Groom #2 ■ Michael Lee Lockhart ■ Jose Santellan Sr. ■ Ronald Wayne Frye ■ China Arnold ■ Herbert William Mullin ■ Pierre 'Le Fou' Loutrel —RIGHT BALCONY ■ Johnny Ray Johnson ■ Alexander Pichushkin ■ Harry Pierpont ■ Robert Dewey Glock ■ Kevin Michael Watts ■ William Ada Chard ■ Jack Dale Walker ■ Kenneth Wayne Morris ■ William Howard Putman ■ Groom #3 ■ Ernst Kaltenbrunner ■ Lise Koch ■ Léa Papin (Round 111) ■ John Gost ■ Widget Didn't Load