Ernest PIGNON-ERNEST - Elsa, 2019 - Original screenprint signed in pencil

Screen print : Screen printing, also known as silkscreen, serigraphy, and serigraph printing - from latin "Sericum (silk) and greek "grapheion" (writing) - is a printing technique that uses a woven mesh to support an ink-blocking stencil to receive a desired image. The attached stencil forms open areas of mesh that transfer ink or other printable materials which can be pressed through the mesh as a sharp-edged image into a substrate. It is possible to use different meshes, for different colors, and create multi-colored works. In the field of art, it is important to know how many prints have been made. The total number of prints is usually written on the print (e.g 20/200).
Ernest Pignon-Ernest : Artit born in 1942 in Nice, he lives and works in Ivry where he has his studio. In 1960, the artist began working in the streets. On the walls of big cities, he challenges people by clearly displaying his political commitment with subjects that echo past events such as the homeless, abortion, incarceration, refugees... Socially committed, he began by denouncing the Algerian war in the 1970s, he also became involved in South Africa against apartheid or in Palestine. He spreads his images to denounce the thousands of silent victims to whom he allows to exist through his art. Ernest Pignon-Ernest's sketches, drawings, stencils and collages are made with charcoal or black stone. He uses an eraser to create shadows and reliefs for his characters. He then reproduces them in silkscreen printing in order to stick them on the walls of cities all over the world. The artist then keeps all his preparatory work and photographs in situ. Some of his works have become very famous, such as "Rimbaud". Produced in 1978 and reproduced in several print, it was then glued in many cities.