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WALLS | LA POESIE DES AFFICHES
La Poesie des Affiches is an ongoing body of graffiti-based work I began 25 years ago. The image entitled The Faceless Madonna is the first image in the series, shot in Madrid in 1995. I am endlessly fascinated by the layering of signage that appears in large cities, often plastered over “post no bills” signs, in languages that mirror the culture of a country. This work incorporate images from more than a dozen countries and every sort of street. I reframe these fragments into tight compositions that are about texture and tonal value. Over the years I have explored the great variety of possibilities, from simple text-only compositions, to images with political and sociological overtones, from images with eyes that stare directly at the viewer, to images of walls that are so damaged the images relate only the mere texture of ruin.
Most intriguing to me is the fact that many of the advertised events have already occurred and some are yet to come. The layering of past, present and future is what draws me to these walls again and again, as well as the graphic quality of the fonts themselves, particularly when the meaning is obscured by foreign languages.
The black and white images in this series encompass hundreds of photographs. In the last few years, I have begun to shoot them in color as well. The color versions explore the careless jumble of colors, fonts and forms created when the posters are layered over one another and the environment eventually peels away all history.
I have shown this work in France, Italy, India, and the US.
