Parlez-Vous Francis? A Visual Travel Journal by Chef Francis Jacquinet

Opening Reception Thursday May 15, 2008 6-8pm
May 12 – July 11, 2008
Steve Gregg Gallery, The Art Institute of Houston

The Art Institute of Houston is proud to present the artwork of Chef Francis Jacquinet, an award winning instructor and artist. The gallery show will feature photographic images of Jacquinet’s unique approach to chocolate sculptures, cocoa paintings, bread sculptures and more, as well as a collection of photographs and paintings from his national and international travel.

Born in 1956 in Luneville, France, Jacquinet showed an early inclination for the arts, mostly drawing and painting. At fifteen, he put his creativity to work as an apprentice to pastry making and baking. Before the end of his apprenticeship, at the age of seventeen he entered a competition with a deer sculpted out of a block of chocolate and placed with some of the most seasoned pastry chefs in the Lorraine region.

At the age of eighteen, he flew to Bermuda and worked under the guidance of now retired Roland Mesnier, Pastry Chef for several Presidents at the White House.

While in Bermuda, Jacquinet learned English, scuba diving and photography, and continued to develop his drawing and painting skills. He painted several commissioned portraits and showed his work at the Wells Art Gallery and the Peter Lekky Art Gallery. There he won several first place awards, including one for a sugar sculpture carved out of six hundred pounds of sugar. He was a part of a team of chefs (that included Roland Mesnier) at the 107th Salon of Culinary Arts sponsored by the Societe Culinare Philantropique of New York, and won the gold medal for Artistic Decorated Cakes.

By the age of twenty, Jacquinet was well on his way to become an accomplished Pastry Chef and conventional artist, with some of his paintings hanging in private collections in over 12 countries.

He went back to France to fulfill his military service, and was sent to Germany for a year. During basic training his officers stumbled onto his artist scrap book. Immediately recognizing his talents, they appointed him the very unofficial title of “artist” for the garrison. He painted various sceneries for the officers and a mural size canvas depicting the regiment charging on horses, a scene reminiscent of earlier times. They also asked him for a painting of the valley, as viewed from the garrison, and offered it as a parting gift to the town of Horb Am Neckar in the Black Forest. The painting now hangs in that town’s city hall.

He was transferred to another garrison, where his talents got him appointed to head of the photo and painting clubs. He taught other service men how to develop black and white film, and how to draw and paint during their recreation time.

After his military service, Jacquinet went back to Bermuda as an assistant pastry chef, all the while working on his artwork. He then relocated to the United States and worked as a pastry chef in Dallas and Houston, Texas and then in Saint Louis, Missouri. At the Saint Louis Club in Missouri he furthered his training to become a Chef De Cuisine. As a Culinarian, he entered many culinary art competitions, and won many international gold medals and first place awards with his creations. He also appeared in various magazines and newspapers, and on radio and TV programs, nationally and abroad.

His love for fine art, however, came to fruition when Jacquinet officially opened his first art studio and gallery known now as Atelier Jacquinet in Houston.

Jacquinet currently is a chef instructor at The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Houston where he teaches courses in Baking, Pastry, Garde Manger, Classical Cuisine and International Cuisine. Jacquinet is also active with the Houston art community, namely the ArtCrawl, where the Atelier has been showing works of various artists for the last six years. More recently Francis and his gallery showcased “The Other Shore¬-- Six Chinese Documentary” Ph