{"id":60,"date":"2017-03-01T06:59:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-01T06:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/?p=60"},"modified":"2026-06-28T21:05:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T21:05:53","slug":"speedy-graphito","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/speedy-graphito\/","title":{"rendered":"SPEEDY GRAPHITO"},"content":{"rendered":"

REVOLUTIONIZING IMAGES TO RECOMPOSE A SHARED MEMORY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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COURSE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did you become an artist?  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a child, I drew all the time, especially during nap time in kindergarten. I quickly started taking classes at the youth center in my neighborhood, while also reproducing at home any objects I could find when there weren't any classes. At the end of 3rd gradeth<\/sup>, I wanted to go to art school, and my parents didn't object. So I started at the Maximilien-Vox high school (then the school on Rue Madame), before going on to Estienne. Drawing has always been a passion, a kind of natural aptitude from the start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You explain that you were initially intrigued, from a graphic point of view, by the juxtaposition of symbols from the Mayan codices.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the very beginning, I wanted to depict my surroundings. When I discovered the Mayan codices, I understood that they were a form of writing used to tell stories. For me, unfamiliar with this language, it offered the possibility of connecting different elements while maintaining freedom of interpretation depending on the viewer's perspective. They contained symbols, such as the repetition of the same character at various stages of their life within a single image. My first painting was therefore a fetus transforming into a skeleton, a representation of the cycle of human life, with a figure getting up, going to work, eating, returning home, and sleeping. To represent the human being, I created my first very simple figure, with a square, a head, and two arms, so that I could easily reproduce it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Has coming from an advertising background influenced your work and your perception of society?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the Estienne school, I studied visual expression, which is generally more geared towards becoming an art director than an artist. I learned to decipher an image, to understand that everything it contained was symbolic, whether it was a person (representing a social class or a way of thinking) or a color. Now, if you know how to decode images, you can also encode them, and I use this promotional language to defuse and subvert the propaganda being put in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the difference for an artist between the 80s and today?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being an artist in the 1980s and being an artist in the 2010s are two different professions. Before, an artist's existence was limited to gallery representation, whereas today, they must promote themselves and maintain a social media presence alongside their studio work. All of this is very time-consuming; it truly means two parallel activities. Furthermore, anything predating the internet is practically nonexistent, as there are very few records of it. For collectors, it's impossible to know if someone has been painting for five or ten years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GRAPHIC EVOLUTIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What techniques did you start with? How did street art come into your life?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first, I simply used paint, but I painted mainly on upholstery fabrics, since my father is an upholsterer and decorator. I've always been surrounded by fabrics that inspire me, offering me themes: Indian colors, a glossy finish for luxury, or a raw look for prehistory. My street art emerged in 1980, when, having finished my art studies, I started painting again. It took me some time to break free from established patterns and try to find my own style. At the time, there was no access to galleries, which didn't accept my work, but I longed to be seen by an audience. That's how I started reproducing paintings as stencils and pasting them around my building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your works on Toile de Jouy are already in this respect an exercise in recomposition, similar to what your works on pixelation will be.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had a toile de Jouy fabric at home when I was little, which lent itself to fantasy and interpretation, being an assemblage of squares of existing images reinterpreted. I believe we can't escape who we are: I often feel like I've found a new idea for a series, before realizing that this same idea was already present long before in my work, even in a rather minimalist form. There are recurring obsessions, like the square motif, which is simultaneously the decomposition of the image, tiling, but also the tiles of the hospital where I used to visit my sister when she was ill. It is therefore linked to my history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The square is also the White square on a white background<\/em>, This is Kazimir Malevich's ultimate work. It is so absolute that it is difficult to go further. It is, finally, the pixel: the basic element of a digital image, the transition between figuration and abstraction. This allows for a new relationship to space: we move from our neighborhood to a vision of the entire world. The pixel is the boundary between the virtual and the real, through augmented reality which blurs the outlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did painting and stenciling become intertwined from the 2000s onwards?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It depends on the series. I only use stencils if I truly want to highlight their unique characteristics, namely the cutouts and small tabs, which are also a graphic element. I like to mix media, working with the differences between canvas, fencing, cardboard, sculpture\u2026 This allows me to experiment with diverse materials like metal, wood, clay, or paper, and forces me to reinvent things. Indeed, you don't work the same way in two or three dimensions, and curiosity drives me to try moving from one to the other. The idea of discovery inspires me. For example, the series Free Zone<\/em> It started with paintings (themselves representing sculptures!) that I made in 1986\/1987, and I tried to imagine what would have happened to them if they had remained in the street for twenty years. Here we have a perspective on time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your preferred medium, however, remains the canvas.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love canvas and stretcher bars because I consider them the most basic and therefore the most difficult thing. It's always easier to use a new material that's just come out: you feel like you're doing something new with a laser because you're using a medium that didn't exist before. Painting is ancient; managing to renew it within the confines of the frame, working on a closed format, is a challenge. This tradition allows us to be part of the inexhaustible lineage of artists who have created such different yet powerful things on that same rectangle of canvas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your first character quickly evolved into that of Lapinture, so as not to be trapped by a single avatar.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This first character with a mohawk received a lot of media attention, notably appearing on the poster for the Art Rush. I thought that if I continued, I would be trapped by this image, but I wanted to be free, so I killed him off fairly quickly to create another one. This is a constant in my approach: as soon as a creation becomes mainstream, I tend to try something else, thinking that if people had accepted what came before, I could lead them towards more challenging works, particularly abstraction, so they could discover what they wouldn't have otherwise seen. Parting ways with these characters is also a way to renew myself and constantly question myself: since they were products of their time, I would still be an artist of the 80s today if I had continued to paint them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What role does abstraction play in your approach?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The abstract versus figurative debate is no longer relevant. Abstraction can tell just as many stories as figuration; it remains a form of storytelling. What interests me is blending work that can be very gestural and spontaneous, playing with drips and stains, with very precise and clean work. This inspiration comes from the street and its murals covered over by others, creating a dialogue where seemingly unrelated expressions mingle, yet contribute a shared richness. In our multicultural world, blending these different perspectives allows us to speak about this evolution of humanity, which is transforming into a single nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You explain that you feel detached from your canvases, without any connection to them once they are finished. Why is that? Is it related to the speed of execution?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believe that if you become too attached to what you're doing, you can't move forward. Admiration for one's own work leads to a kind of confinement, which is why I'm always thinking about the next canvas, with a curiosity for what comes next. What interests me is doing as much as possible to try to push the boundaries of representation, and that's why I'm constantly working, always questioning things in order to progress. Nevertheless, they also represent a significant time commitment: I don't feel like I've reached the end of what I wanted to say or show, and despite my name, Speedy, I feel like my creative process is slow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PLAYING WITH SEVERAL ARTISTIC STYLES<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your style often pays homage to the various artistic movements of the 20th century.<\/strong>e<\/sup><\/strong> century.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love painting above all else, whether classical, modern, or contemporary. The first canvases with Lapinture were in black and white, composed of few contrasts, depicting a figure that appeared luminous, almost immaculate. These tributes are made up of things that have marked me, things I respect and revisit in my own way. These are people who proposed new languages, which say far more about the era than a photograph or a snippet of film: the deconstruction of Cubism is the very embodiment of a way of thinking about the world. These artists, who offered an evolution of perspective, have inspired me. Modern art, for example, allows the artist to no longer represent things figuratively, but rather through feeling, a touch, and the invention of emotive techniques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why are you associated with Street art when your work is mainly done in a studio?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The street is anecdotal in my work. But from the beginning, the fact that I did things in the street and received media attention for it gave me a label. There's a certain mystique surrounding the person who paints on a wall compared to the gallery artist. Yet, I've always denied being a street artist. For me, the street is simply a way to showcase my current creative process. You could consider it a journal linked to my studio research. Right now, I'm working on an abstract series, and if I'm asked to paint a wall, it will be abstract. Conversely, a true street artist paints in the street before reproducing their creation on canvas so they can sell it and thus continue creating outdoors. Finally, it's worth noting the misuse of language: when people see my paintings, they talk about graffiti because the word is now used as a synonym and sounds better, even though they are different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CONSUMER SOCIETY AND COLLECTIVE MEMORY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your work then shifts towards a reinterpretation of characters from popular culture.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I'm very interested in collective memory and globalization, and I thought I'd feel freer by using elements of popular culture, subverting them, telling a different story, and avoiding being confined by a single style. Driven by a taste for nostalgia, I also seek the emotions I felt as a child when confronted with certain works of art, emotions that came simply through feeling, without judgment. By using somewhat childlike imagery, I realize I awaken the child within people, buried deep inside them by adulthood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You say that <\/strong>\u00ab"Popular culture is the guardian of our collective memory."\u00bb<\/em><\/strong>. Mass culture relies on finding the lowest common denominator and thus shapes our collective memory. But is this memory universal and not solely Western, specifically American or Japanese?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While travelling I noticed that in Algeria they loved Inspector Gadget<\/em>. At first, I thought it wasn't part of their culture, but in reality, these childhood characters are now part of a global culture transmitted through television. This allows us to communicate using codes and references that are recognizable in every country. While the language may differ, the imagery is universal, and that's precisely what interests me: using them as a universal language. I seek to defuse the prefabricated language that exists in order to subvert its meaning. We are so accustomed to certain things that we sometimes lack perspective, and seeing them in a different context allows us to rediscover their original meaning, which we may have forgotten because it's so ingrained in our daily lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A character like Mickey Mouse is universally known. Of course, some countries have used this popular culture for propaganda and to convey their worldview, like manga, which speaks of ancestral values through animation. The United States also disseminates its culture through these new media. Conversely, I find that France struggles to promote its own, even though it is strong and very creative. Although we once held a prominent place in the art world, I feel we are defending it less and less. When I work with these characters, who have almost become icons, I transform this propaganda from other countries through my European, French, lens, adding my own perspective and that of my own culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your canvases are very saturated and often deconstructed, which generates a feeling of vertigo, in the manner of Villegl\u00e9's torn posters.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It depends on the series, but if I like to overload the space, it's because my environment is saturated, especially with the internet. As an artist, I try to speak about my era and how I experience it. I try to translate this overabundance into my paintings, which provokes an attraction from the public because it's part of their daily lives, but also a certain rejection because they feel both suffocated and manipulated, almost forced to like it. Regarding deconstruction, we realize that from an extremely small surface we manage to recompose the image in its entirety because it's so deeply integrated into our memory. I therefore play a lot on deconstruction and the fact that memory will reconstruct the original image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You say that Art is a commitment in itself; your works make you identifiable as an artist of the era in which you live.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It's like a logbook. You can date them, even though I use a lot of older elements. I'm trying to break down generational barriers to create a multi-layered picture, one that can be understood by someone six years old as well as someone sixty, because everyone will have a piece of the puzzle. The references I use also reflect my concerns: perhaps smartphones won't exist in ten years, and in that case, my series dedicated to them will symbolize a moment in evolution, like the language of the internet, or pixelation. Today we no longer see pixels, whereas before we dreamed over a few squares in a video game, imagining we were racing cars with two rectangles and a line!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In your opinion, does the reuse of pre-existing figures place your work within the field of Appropriation Art?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These images are part of my memory. I use them because, from the moment they were released, they became part of my world, and I consider them genuine creations: in my opinion, Disney is a creator in the same way as Andy Warhol. Since I reinterpret them, there's no possible confusion; the viewer will clearly see the difference between Disney and my paintings. Moreover, these images are reused everywhere, and you can even find Impressionist paintings adorning chocolate boxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You say you perceive the art market as a kind of ATM that provides money in exchange for paintings. How can we prevent this relationship from becoming a constraint on creation?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That's the problem when you're stuck in a style and can't change it. Some artists want to evolve and try in that direction, but people want what's most recognizable. I don't care about money, and I allow myself to do what I want: just because I sell a series doesn't mean I'll exploit it to the point of exhaustion. At some point, an idea emerges, which I decide whether to follow or not, sometimes leading me down unexpected paths, but all my works are connected, however different they may be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BRANDS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of your paintings raise the question of choice by asking the viewer for "validation." This poses the question: what should we keep?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you look at tourists, you see them behind a screen because they're filming everything; they're no longer in the moment but already thinking about what comes next. Beyond this question of filtering, there's also a broader issue. When I say \u00ab"Do you really want to save this image?"\u00bb <\/em>By depicting a landscape, the work also addresses environmental issues. Will we be able to take this photograph in twenty years? These are questions with multiple layers of meaning. In this case, saturation allows for a simple, initial interpretation, before prompting reflection on the present day, life, or the future for those who take the time to look. The image thus evolves with the viewer's gaze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This raises questions about our relationship with images.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our relationship with images has changed dramatically. Today, people look at them for a few seconds, but an hour later they're already outdated and disappear into a flood. Furthermore, the fact that art is now viewed more often on phones than in galleries or museums also raises questions for artists about their work. The point isn't to fight against this trend by not posting anything on social media, but to use it as a source of inspiration, to address this issue using these new tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the relationship between your work and brands?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I first used brands in my paintings in 1990, for an exhibition: Speedy Graphito: Product of Art. The double meaning was obvious: I produce Art and I am myself a "product" of Art. I had chosen about twenty brands and viewed them from a very personal perspective. It wasn't about fulfilling a commission or advertising, but about showing, as an individual, how they had influenced my life. I had a piece about Knorr soup, and I had thought that when I died, I would be cremated so that my ashes, placed in a soup packet, could be served at a large meal at my funeral, so that I could live on through people. This isn't something that could be used for advertising in a magazine. The power of the artist lies in this freedom to say and do things without the constraint of merchandising <\/em>and the obligation to sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How important is freedom in your work?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I strongly defend this freedom. The freedom to paint what I want, despite a system that does everything to make us identifiable and repetitive. There are so many people and so much information that we're forced to hammer home the same image for years so that people can recognize it. My journey has influenced many young artists, and I'm quite happy to have been able to show that it's possible. You can break the rules, take other paths; the important thing is to be yourself and always remain free in your mind and your creative process.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

D\u00c9TOURNER LES IMAGES POUR RECOMPOSER UNE M\u00c9MOIRE COMMUNE PARCOURS Comment \u00eates-vous devenu artiste ?   Petit, je dessinais tout le temps, notamment \u00e0 la maternelle pendant les heures de sieste. Tr\u00e8s vite j\u2019ai pris des cours \u00e0 la maison des jeunes de mon quartier, tout en reproduisant chez moi tous les objets que je trouvais lorsqu\u2019il […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[7,9],"class_list":["post-60","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-france","tag-pionniers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":269,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60\/revisions\/269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}