Measurement is the action of evaluating a quantity from its relation to a quantity of the same kind, taken as a unit and as a reference: The measurement of time, of lengths. But measurement is also the means of comparison and appreciation: “Man is the measure of all things”. It is this last sense that I wanted to represent here.
A figurative design mixes with the gesture, the trace. A contour, though contours, vibrant, far from precise. Around, a thick paste of golden paint, obvious symbol of celebrity. This African American measures his success and shows it to us. A stronger line around him, as if to focus on his portrait and put it in value. This feature is reflected on his tie, is not the phallic symbol par excellence?
But the painting contrasts with this smooth line. Its raw dough, laden with knives, is the laurel wreath of the winner. The man brandishes a statue, a price, this time African, and what seems to be a board (the ancestor of the book?). His glasses only reinforce his star status. In any case, it is measured by the stars, and its measurement is itself. Because Man is the measure of everything.
Opposite, the preparatory drawing and details of my realization. And its setting in space: “the cube and the white”, or “several cubes, several whites”. If the base is square, the portrait is rectangular, but off center. Fahamu Pecou leaves the frame, is it because of his ego? If the cube has the vanishing point of the artist, it is crushed, misaligned … it is a polymorphic cube.
Just like white, or whites. The white of the reproduction, that of the leaf, and that all around. Because reality is not only one. The cubes are stretched, the whites fill up, the images are transformed.
Issues addressed: Questioning measurement in a celebrity context.
Concepts addressed:
– Drawing / painting
– Trait / matter
– Gesture / precision
– Hardness / fragility
– Culture of the surface / art of memory
– Reference field
– The symbolism of Banksy’s subject
– Fahamu Pecou for his introspection
– The fight for the memory of Ernest Pignon-Ernest
– Failure as the engine of creation, Giacometti
School Third year work in the visual arts, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, ParisMaterialsGraphiteYear2018