“The text or the image? The text AND the image! I have always been attracted to the letter, the word, the text as pictorial elements in their own right. Typography or calligraphy constitute patterns, shapes, lines and volumes perceptible as images as well as messages. The gesture of the hand which draws the letter, the curves and volutes of the sentence which winds and unfolds under the pen, the pencil, the brush or the aerosol can are, in themselves, fascinating. Before becoming a means of artistic creation, the stencil was a signage tool, mainly used to duplicate words, numbers and logos. This purely utilitarian character of the stencil is particularly interesting and, behind this simple labeling function, a certain industrial aesthetic emerges. It will be copiously developed in the alternative punk imagery of the late 70s, a central element of record covers, posters, flyers and other fanzines of the time. This DIY (Do It Yourself) vogue has endured and remains perceptible in today's creation. From my first drawings and collages from the 70s, then my first stencils from the 80s, to my work today, the word is often present. I juggle between poetic content, titles or musical references, quotes and slogans, typographies and calligraphies declined as desired... Whether the word is at the center of the work or a discreet presence in the margin, I like to feel it quiver and resonate with the image or in the abstraction of a background, I like to see it infuse the painting. The letter also allows for the porosity between the painting and the reality of the urban context. The word questions in each work this textual presence which overwhelms us: advertising, signs, posters, press, neon lights, urban signage, brands, etc. But above all, never take anything literally and never crush yourself under the weight of words!”
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