Commemorative exhibition to "Je suis Charlie" in the AAB gallery on January 2016.

 It was important for me to symbolically show my commitment with the spirit that came out from the « Je suis charlie » events. The artistic association I belong planned an exhibition to commemorate this spirit. Called « Je suis artist » (I am an Artist) it took place beginning January from the 8th to 17th. I also contributed to the organization of the show. Initially I thought I would present previous works realized in 2015, but the last events of the 13th November urged me to be more creative and present something completely new I had not done before.
So I decided to present 4 works. 3 panoramic bands based on street-art paintings  from locations directly involved in the dramatic events of November 2015 : a wall just beside the restaurant Cambodge based rue Aligre and fences installed around a bar located in the middle of place de la République.

As the walls and fences were quite long I could not use my « Traveling photo » technique. So I took several classical photos which were merged with Photoshop. Then in order to express my contribution I integrated my Panoroïds photos.

The generic title for these new panoramic photos was « Jean chante Paris» (John sings Paris- but there is a joke with the French verb "J'ENCHANTE" which means "I lay a spell on Paris") and each work was named after a song or poem celebrating Paris.

For me my photos are like writings and I consider that one of the missions of the artist is to « Sing his world around ». Along with the works we had to provide with few words as a commentary.  Mine was :

Etre artiste à Paris en 2015 s’est avéré difficile. Nous

représentons la liberté de création. Entre émotion

et information, notre contribution reste indispensable. Ma réponse

est une série de photos panoramiques intitulées « Jean chante Paris ».

Chaque photo est un chant du griot photographe que je suis. 

Being an artist in Paris in 2015 has been difficult. We represent creativity and freedom. Between emotion and information our contribution remains an obligation. My answer is a group of panoramic photos named « Jean chante Paris » (John sings Paris).  Each photo is a song from the photographic bard I am.

1) Paris sera toujours Paris. Paris will always be Paris.  (Music : Offenbach, French Cancan, variété, Bataclan..) Maurice  Chevalier, 20x90 cm

2) Paris j’ai deux Amours  (Paris I have two loves. (Paris historique et la photo) Baker, 20x90 cm

3) Feux (Lumière, flammes, bougies, fleurs, amour, mort, hommages) Aragon, 20x90 cm

Paris sera toujours Paris panoramic features a wall paintiong from the Place de la République that became emblamatic.It reproduces the Coat of Arms and Motto  of the city «  Fluctuat nec mergitur », a Latin phrase meaning "Tossed but not sunk".

"Paris sera toujours Paris" panoramic features a street-wall painting from the Place de la République that became emblematic.  To it I have added special a collection of Panoroïds representing the Eiffel Tower dancing specially lighted for the commemoration during two weeks.

Be exhibited, a must for an artist !

In the last months many artistic events occurred in Paris. As I was not exhibited for obvious reasons I decided to satisfy my search of fame and glory in my virtual works and world. 

Even if these photos are pure fiction they all question the position of the artist in our modern cities and the price to pay to be exhibited. 

Here, I have choosen the following exhibitions: FIAC,  Picasso Mania and Expo Photo at the Grand Palais, GMAC at la Bastille.

And at last of course the street. 

Confirmation of a new style in my photo.

As I explained in the previous posts my work around COP 21 thematic has conducted me to find a new way of presenting my work. The posters I designed were planned to be exhibited in a real project which did not become a reality. So to avoid frustration I made them real in a virtual photographic reality. I produce about 20 photos including my COP 21 posters and will present here below several for you to figure out the result.

 

The choice of a black&white background with a standard size including my creations in colour will be the basis of this new trend. All images displayed and mixed are all my images. As I love black&white photos and my "panoroïds", I will mix them in the future. It is the way I found to really install my work in the Street Art Photography Movement. My creations will through this method be presented in urban contexts and environments.

« Janus et Rébus sont sur la banquise» a creative turning point.

As I already said since September I am in a creative period. My colleagues from the A.A.B. who organized an exhibition about the COP 21 objectives were lacking material to show. I decided to think about what I could do to support their initiative. I began by conceiving a photo with the material of « La Géode en Folie» and produced an enigmatic composition that illustrated the title « Janus and Rébus are on the bank-ice ». Very pleased with my inventive composition I sent it by email expecting an enthusiastic response. « I don't understand. » was the answer. So, I was obliged to provide an explanation. I found that very comical and instructive. I changed slightly the composition, add an explanation and decided to present the result, called Mea Culpa, in the exhibition.

But I needed to present something. The idea to use the collection of the COP 21 posters (see my previous post) came up. As I had no intention to glue my posters in the streets of Paris like street artists do with their work (they do that at night away from the police), I imagine to use Photoshop to include the posters in photos from Parisian streets. The A.A.B. being at the origin of this idea, the first photo presented is the outside wall of the association with some of my posters.

On the other hand, the objective of this exhibition linked with the COP 21 conference was to start thinking ecological in our artistic fields. Therefore, the participants had to provide a detailed label describing the material used in the exhibited works. So, I tried to find an ecological way to present my numerical images. My surprise was complete to state that after several hours on the web searching for a green printing solution, there was in fact no simple solution available at my level in Paris in 2015. There are only few companies offering « Green » printing solutions, and generally available only for companies or industrial quantities, which was not the case for me. For photographers you can choose the more expensive papers made out with plant fibres like cotton or bamboo for instance. Then, you can eventually choose a printing company that will respect a green chart for the treatment of their wastes but there was no photographic laboratory claiming a really green attachment in the list. Of course I looked to the inks and other chemical products used in photography, the results were similar. The conclusion was clear: There is today no possibility to be a 100% green photographer at my scale. One can choose subjects related with this field, but finally the printing of the images or their distribution will demand energy and non-ecological products that will affect environment. So symbolically I decided to present my images with laser prints using recycled paper and not photographic paper. I will show two images sized 30x40cm and a panel of 60x90 cm composed with glued images because there is no other printing possibilities. Of course the quality of the image is deteriorated, but it is the only way I found to be green. So for the future if we want to preserve climate we will have to make compromises with our standards of living and our criteria of

judgement on photography. As long as technology and the industry will not provide a new solution, we will have to change our behaviours. Presently, almost no photographer is ready to follow this way, we are trapped.

"Au-Delà du Réel" (Outter Limits) The exhibition and my Paris Photo Expo 2015.

I mentioned earlier that I had no experience of such an organization, but now this is finished, the exhibition is open and the 17 artists and their 60 works are displayed. Now we need to follow the event and try to identify the impact of the communication to the press and hope many visitors will come including to the Vernissage

that will take place next Wednesday evening on the 4th November.

If there are sales it would be « the cherry on the cake ».

An artist is someone who always lives in reaction to his surrounding. At the beginning I intended to just present previous works. This choice has also been done by some artists. But in September I found the energy again to produce new images based on the Geode, a rounded cinema of the "Cité Des Sciences". Plenty of ideas came up during the shooting period of the photos. So I decided, to break a rule and have learned to use partially the software «Photoshop». Why make such a change? During the selection of the works I was confronted with the use of photo composition in its diversity. The subject of the Geode itself forced me into that direction because it was quite difficult to produce with that building good « Panoroïds» using a single image, whereas just in employing the symmetry of a mirror the possibilities became multiple. The other reason is that be in a cage of a « No Photoshop User » had no important impact on the sales or my fame. So I decided, to try an experience with this exhibition and see how the public will react to my new creations. Of course the basis of my work remains the « Panoroïds», but I will extend the variety of my photos with Photoshop. This choice should also open gates to participate at many thematic exhibitions.

Finally, I conceived how I would contribute: I would produce a small exhibition within the major show. This was my way to express that between artist and their creative process there are correspondences. In my case the sky, the architecture, Photoshop, the use of software, street art, reversed symmetry, movement, digital photo are things that could be also found in the work of the other exhibitors. There are five pieces exhibited shown is the photo. The two on the right are single Panoroïds. 

The first is called « Bulb Bottle » and present a distortion of the building as I generally do, but here the result is astonishing.

The second work is my first « Installation » called Euréka. It illustrates the principle of reversed symmetry obtained with a mirror. The resulting view presents an electric bulb. This recalls me Edison, and the saying « Et la lumière fut » (And Light became true). By extension it evokes my creativity and the new ideas that came up during that period. The choice of making a package to present the mirror and the photo was logical as there was a volume created initially and it needed to be shaped. The packaging is a mixed of different papers which found an application instead of being thrown to the litter. This reuse is compatible with my present financial situation and the promotion of the COP 21 Conference that will take place in a month in Paris. The result is like a box and the visitor is obliged to look in it to see the bulb. I have written «Boite à idée » (Box of an idea) which is a common expression in French, but usually with idea written in plural form and not single. This box also was a reference to a discussion I had with an other artist about her work which reproduced a « camera obscura » my work being a «camara clara ». Finally, I want to show that I am a Street Art artist so I tagged the packaging. So this box is the only « dirty » 3D object that interacts with the visitor.

The two others photos are "Love Planet (2)" and a "SelfPortrait" using reversed symmetry produced with a software.

 The last photo on the left is « Le Grand Totem » (The Big Totem) is a complete photo composition using plenty of elements all taking their origin in the Géode building. This is a more conceptual and esoteric approach.

All the photos belong to a set called « La Géode en Folie » (When the Géode got mad). « Folie » is the name of the different architectural elements painted red that can be found in the Parc of La Villette.