{"id":68,"date":"2018-02-01T07:08:00","date_gmt":"2018-02-01T07:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/?p=68"},"modified":"2026-06-29T17:34:46","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T17:34:46","slug":"nemo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/nemo\/","title":{"rendered":"Nemo"},"content":{"rendered":"

A BLACK SILHOUETTE, AN EXTENSION OF OUR CHILDHOOD DREAMS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

THE BIRTH OF THE MAN IN BLACK<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You start painting for your son, along the way to school, with the character of Little Nemo by Winsor McCay.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I lived in M\u00e9nilmontant and that area was enough for me; I didn't go beyond Boulevard de Belleville. There was plenty to do, and I couldn't imagine painting in the 11th arrondissement.e<\/sup> or the 19the<\/sup> district. Without any formal art training, I started out directly in the street with Winsor McCay's Little Nemo, a truly great dreamlike genius who drew a page a week for the New York Herald<\/em>. I already had my imagination in place: the tiger, the umbrella, the red balloon. The Little Nemo character was only made from a stencil, but I then made others that followed my son's school route, gradually moving away from Belleville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When did the black man appear?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The black figure appeared after a period of four or five years during which I hadn't been out on the streets, starting in M\u00e9nilmontant and then moving on to other neighborhoods. I painted the first one when I was working in a business incubator, near Rue Sorbier, close to Place Martin-Nadaud. There was a window in the office that faced Rue des Partants. That's where it appeared. At that time, we often painted at night, but I didn't want to hide, both because it was impossible to paint my black figure in complete darkness, and also because it creates a strange dynamic with the police: it's a bit threatening to imagine someone at night, spray paint can in hand, tracing a black silhouette. But I was amused to imagine the cops stumbling upon this shadow during their patrol, emerging from the night like in a detective novel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With his raincoat, he is reminiscent of characters from Jean-Pierre Melville's films.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the black figure is a thoroughly urban character, he's not a gangster, but rather a gunless silhouette, enriched with harmless and whimsical details. A series-like logic gradually took shape, from the moment I thought it would be fun to feature several of them. I always wanted to create a sense of surprise, to have a child stop their mother to tell her to look at this character accompanied by a hippopotamus, a cat, or birds. I was seeking that astonishment in the face of the visual aggression of advertising. I haven't forgotten the clashes with political billboard installers, some of whom took advantage of the situation to twist my message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did it have a particular symbolic meaning?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I depict isn't necessarily joyful: a Black man, marked by his gabardine coat, hat, and suitcase, standing in front of a shack being demolished, isn't exactly an image of happiness. Once, he was cut in two in Montreuil, with only his feet and suitcase remaining. For the "Lizards of the Bi\u00e8vre" project, I painted in the street where Mitterrand lived and asked a luthier if he'd allow me to install it on the side of his shop. Without permission, you have to be determined because the police can always show up. For me, it's an approach meant to be seen, to reach parents as much as children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLOMBIA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You went to live in Colombia for four years (from 1996 to 2000, returning to France for several months in 1998). What change did this have on your work?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bogota is not Paris. It's both everyone's city and no one's city. I painted works in the old colonial quarter, near the presidential palace, and all around the Palace of Justice. I hired two street artists, "disposable" as they were called, homeless people, whom I paid per piece. They joined me around the time of the forty-sixth stencil. I went to very visible places, and others that were less so: I was convinced that the people of Bogota greatly appreciated this work. At that time, there was nothing else on the walls but old political messages or... \u201cTe Amo\u201d<\/em>. It was a lot of luck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What were you looking for through these Colombian stencils?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people from Bogot\u00e1 told me not to paint in certain places, but my goal was to get people moving, to create a movement in the city. I completed a series of 162 graffiti pieces in Bogot\u00e1, and another series in Medell\u00edn during an international festival for which I painted a huge red balloon. I also had the chance to meet the mayor, who gave me a pass to avoid trouble with the police. He had run for office after being fired from the National University, the only free university, where he was president. Antanas Mockus was of Lithuanian origin, and during a demonstration, exasperated, he lowered his pants to show his backside to the students. A video of it then went viral throughout South America. He was a man with a project \u201cBogota coqueta\u201d<\/em> And who, when he got married, went on a circus tour on the back of an elephant, leading a rabbi, a priest, and a notary into the tiger pit. That's the kind of man he is!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A STENCIL IN THE CITY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What did you do once you returned to France?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I got back, I painted several things with J\u00e9r\u00f4me, and did a series in Bobigny. Then I went back to my day job because I was broke and didn't want to make a living from painting. I've almost stopped now; it bothers me that so many graffiti artists are destroying the artwork. People have even protested against this vandalism! It's a shame that it's destroyed so quickly when it takes so much energy to go out and paint. I'm not asking for a stencil to last for years, but eight days is too short. There are also fewer walls than before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you construct your stencils? They seem to be distinguished by a precise sense of framing, as well as a real emphasis on movement.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before going to paint, I already know the location and have a general idea of what I'm going to do: so I choose the most suitable set of stencils. I used to alternate between the "male" and "female" stencils. If I cut out a red balloon from a piece of cardboard, I actually get two stencils with which I can create a graphic design. I then try to make sure they blend well with the wall. If the location is beautiful, I don't hesitate, even if the surface is less so. The location dictates the action, whether it's chosen for its high visibility or, on the contrary, because it allows me to play on the element of surprise by placing the artwork in a corner. At the time, there was incredible destruction in Belleville and M\u00e9nilmontant, especially a lot of old shacks. It was unimaginable, sometimes dangerous: a boon for artists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your style is distinguished by a great deal of poetry and the use of bold colors for accessories, in contrast to the black of the character.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poetry is too difficult to talk about. I use primary colors: red, yellow, blue, green, with accessories that can spark ideas I don't control. The black figure alone isn't so appealing, but when he's holding a flower, the impact is completely different. What does a red balloon represent to a child? I have no idea. It was my desire to be able to use very simple, yet very powerful shapes, like a broom or a suitcase, that speak to each person in a unique way. My goal is to offer the viewer multiple interpretations. My victory is that people can experience their own emotion, regardless of what I may have felt while painting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your relationship with people?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going out into the street is daring, because you have to be sure of what you're offering. It's not the same world as a gallery; a different audience will discover the work. I've always had very good relationships with people, who are always surprised to see someone painting outdoors. I've been lucky enough to meet some truly kind people, like the time I was painting on Rue de Belleville, near Rue Haxo, and an elderly woman returning from the market with her basket held my canvases for me without me even asking. I also remember an elderly Chinese gentleman on Rue de Tourtille who, without saying a word, came to help me after ten minutes. In all the places where I paint, I strongly believe in series, which allow me to build a relationship between the public and the locals. For example, I installed thirty-six stencils in Lisbon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE BOURNE IDENTITY <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have a strong taste for artistic collaborations, particularly with J\u00e9r\u00f4me Mesnager. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the Lizards of the Bi\u00e8vre, I created a series of twenty-three stencils, for which I had determined all the placements, except for the first one, where I positioned myself\u2014at his request\u2014above J\u00e9r\u00f4me Mesnager's White Body. This collaboration then evolved incredibly, resulting in a series of over one hundred pieces! The first thing he asked me was if he could paint a White Body on one of my hippos. Our friendship also stemmed from the encounter of these two colors, which blend beautifully together. He is an excellent painter, capable of creating anything freehand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Could you elaborate on the creation of the M\u00e9nilmontant zoo in the 1990s?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a vacant lot with a gate opening onto the street. We first met there to paint with J\u00e9r\u00f4me (Mesnager) and the Mosko family. The gates were later bricked up, and when I first returned from Colombia in 1998 during the World Cup, you couldn't see anything anymore. I then asked J\u00e9r\u00f4me to lend me a sledgehammer: I wanted to cut a small opening in the wall so the children could see the paintings inside. I was working on a report for NHK, Japanese television, at the time, because the director knew The red balloon <\/em>by Albert Lamorisse. When I started attacking the wall, it echoed tremendously, and all my friends left before the police arrived. I told them I claimed responsibility for the act and went to the police station. But as a result, J\u00e9r\u00f4me never got his sledgehammer back.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your character thus evokes the imagery of an era with little urban art, and creates a link with a vanished Paris.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It's not the same town anymore. Back then, there were lots of places with small vacant lots and sometimes dangerous buildings. There were streets where five houses were boarded up. It was grim if you didn't paint over them. When the cops came during the day, I'd tell them everything was going to be demolished. And since I didn't make fun of them, I didn't get into trouble very often. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This magical aspect is also present in Colombia. When I arrive at a wall and unpack my stencils, people wonder what I'm going to do. It's a little intriguing, a little unusual, especially since I always start my figure from the feet, as it's made up of several stencils. But in Bogot\u00e1, as in Belleville, even though people live in fairly defined neighborhoods, they come to see the work and recognize it. Some even travel just for that!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UNE SILHOUETTE NOIRE, PROLONGATION DE NOS R\u00caVES D\u2019ENFANT LA NAISSANCE DE L\u2019HOMME EN NOIR Vous commencez \u00e0 peindre pour votre fils, le long du chemin de l\u2019\u00e9cole, avec le personnage de Little Nemo de Winsor McCay. J\u2019habitais \u00e0 M\u00e9nilmontant et cet espace me suffisait, je n\u2019allais pas au-del\u00e0 du boulevard de Belleville. Il y avait […]<\/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":[33,30,9,10],"class_list":["post-68","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-in-situ","tag-paris","tag-pionniers","tag-pochoir"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68","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=68"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":322,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68\/revisions\/322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}