Grammophon, 2018

Artiste Ouvrier   Emerging artists

Artiste Ouvrier (Artist Worker) is a French artist born in 1972. Since 2000, he produces his works with stencil and spray paint. He most often uses walls as a support, but also other media such as vinyls and wood panels. 

He starts to practice stencil painting in 1993, but he only takes on the name "Artiste Ouvrier" and devotes himself to his art in 2000. 3 years later, he organises, with the help of artist Spliff Gâchette, an international stencil show in Nogent-sur-Marne. This show consisted in the collaborative production of a 69-meter long mural painting, to which artists like Yseult and Epsylon Point participated. 

Artiste-Ouvrier later takes part in more legal initiatives of urban art, such as the Stencil Project in 2004, which reunited some of the then-greatest names of Parisian street art, including Blek le rat and Jef Aérosol. The next year, he participates in the show "Section Urbaine" at the Marché des Blancs-Manteaux in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. There, he exhibits alongside Ernest Pignon-Ernest, Speedy Graphito, Jérôme Mesnager and many others of such caliber... 

Artiste-Ouvrier is soon contacted by Is Bach, and 6lex, two artists who wish to learn from his advanced stencil technique. Their association marks the birth of the WCA, or Working Class Artists. At the time, Artiste-Ouvrier leaves to Hamburg, which allows the WCA to welcome new artists and re-name itself the WCA-ASA (Altona Stencil Art). 

In 2008, he is invited to the annual show of the artist association Lézarts de la Bièvre, and produces for this event several artworks in the 5th and 13th arrondissements of Paris. The same year, he is invited to London by Banksy for the Cans festival, alongside internationally-famed artists such as Vhils.

The stencil works Artiste-Ouvrier creates have a great level of detail and are often colored. Contrary to many other street artists who use color, he only ever uses two stencils for one work, even though a single work can consist of up to 48 colors. Such a technique is impressive - especially when one finds oneself in front of one of his paintings of religious spaces like the Amiens cathedral. 

Artiste-ouvrier is strongly influenced by 19th-century painting, namely by the Pre-Raphaelite movement. He lives and works in Caen, Normandy, and he only ever paints in legal places or with the agreement of the space owner.