JEAN FRANÇOIS OCTAVE

JFO (Jean-François Octave) was born in 1955 in Arlon. He lives and works in Brussels.
He is a designer, painter and architect. After studying architecture at the Institut Saint-Luc and then at La Cambre, he began work- ing for the magazine Soldes – Fin de serie, before making covers for Les Disques du Crépuscule / Factory Benelux and posters for Plan K concerts (Joy Division, Young Marble Giants, A Certain ratio, Tuxedomoon).
He started painting in the 1980s and became a figure of the belgian punk scene with his publications, fanzines and object-books. He represented Belgium at the Venice Biennale in 1986. Since then he was also drawn to art in the public space and scenography.

MMCO (Marc Octave) was born in 1948 in Arlon and died in 2002 in Brussels. A discreet designer, even secret in certain respects, his very life seems an illustration of the life of an artist even though from the dawn of his career he enjoyed recognition and con- stant attention from the Belgian contemporary art world. This is evidenced by his numerous exhibitions, his publications and the impressive number of pieces acquired by the Ministry of the French Community, as well as by the National Bank, among others. Friend of the painters Filip Denis and Walter Swennen, who all were friends with Marcel Broodthaers during their apprenticeship years, MMCO traced his path, always truant, between popular imagery and unbridled poetry.