Cuba Libre, 2023

Cosmos  

Cosmos, named Stéphane Pillon, began graffiti in 1987 in the Paris metro. He considers that art in general is a universal means to transmit messages and emotions, hence the name “Cosmos" which means “Universe" in Greek.

In his creations, Cosmos is inspired by his past as a street artist, with several stages of work: One vertical made of signs, graphs, the other horizontal in the tradition of "Dripping" or "Action Painting" of 1950s. The notion of "Action Painting" comes to us from Harold Rosenberg, who wrote in 1952: "At some point, American painters", including Jackson Pollock, "began to consider the canvas as a space in which to reproduce , recreate, analyze or “express" a real or imaginary object. What was to appear on the canvas was not an image, but a fact, an action. »

Passing from one working position to another, vertical then horizontal, we can, however, say that Cosmos offers us both, a movement in action and an imaginary world.

Thus, we can oscillate between two fronts of emotions when faced with these works: First of all, it's the clash of colors, so beautiful, so invigorating, with these signs that jump on the canvases, helping to provide us with positive energy, abundant, fresh with life. But we can also feel that this density, this filling up to the edge of the painting, without white, is suffocating us.

It would then be the expression of an overflow, of signs, information and actions, to the point of cracking, ready to explode.

- Florence Ormezzano, cultural mediator

Cosmos exhibits in various galleries in Paris and abroad

Cosmos went to Morocco in 2019 to draw inspiration from its colors and landscapes in order to diversify the rendering of its works.