Ernest Pignon-Ernest — Figurae, 1968-2018 — Lelong & Co Gallery — Exhibition — Slash Paris

Past: March 15 → May 18, 2018

Ernest Pignon-Ernest has always been sensitive to the heads of individuals, both male and female.

Examining someone in detail through drawing was and is a constant feature of his work, a way of coming into direct contact with figures of recent History that he admires and questions. In 1968, in a turbulent Avignon, he drew the portrait of Julian Beck at the Living Theatre, which he related, in its emotive dimension, to that of Antonin Artaud. Then, of course, he went on to draw Pier Paolo Pasolini, who has been explored each decade, as well as Rimbaud, obviously, but also more unexpected faces and profiles who had remained in the artist’s portfolio and had never been displayed. Here, in this exhibition we can find the faces of Billie Holiday, George Orwell, Alberto Giacometti, Charles Baudelaire, Francis Bacon, and more. As well as a rather troubling portrait of Medusa, she whose eyes had the power to turn to stone those who looked at her, but could also offer protection from the evil eye…

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Ernest Pignon-Ernest was born in Nice in 1942 and lives and works in Paris. For more than 50 years he has invented images that he glues to the walls of cities. Today, he is unanimously recognised as the precursor of “street art”. His work was the subject of a major retrospective at the MAMAC in Nice in 2016.