Pintura (et autres Letreros & Lápidas)

Lápidas

With the idea of creating commemorative plaques dedicated not to notable events or personalities, but to fleeting inscriptions, the collection entitled Lápidas (begun in 2019 as part of a training course at Artelinea) consists of a series of ceramic plaques on which graffiti photographed in Mexico City is reproduced. To these graffiti was added the symbol of the five-pointed star, seen on many tombs in the Decazeville cemetery. The resulting plaques display irregularities characteristic of the modelling and changing plasticity of clay. Some have been partially glazed in a colour that contrasts with the background. Their shape can sometimes resemble that of a flag or evoke a gravestone. Thus, the title Lápidas refers to gravestones or tombstones, but also evokes the lapidary style of the phrases reproduced – which are sometimes linked to Mexican episodes, but remain simple enough (easily translatable into French) and vague enough to have meaning (perhaps a little disturbing) for us too. For example, in the inscription ‘El pueblo se reb(v)ela’ that initiated this project, the spelling doubt arising from the fact that the letters b and v are pronounced the same in Spanish, and the repentance of their superimposition, allows the meaning of the sentence to vibrate: ‘The people reveal themselves / the people rebel’. During the exhibition Telle est la matière dont les rêves sont faits (Such is the stuff that dreams are made of) at the AL/MA gallery (Montpellier), the Victor & Nahomi plaque, made of grey earthenware reminiscent of the texture of a wall or concrete, was installed at a height reminiscent of a street name plaque, and the superimposition of an angry word on the previous inscription further opens up the possibilities for interpreting the situation.

Letreros

These ‘painting exercises’ using engobe or enamel on terracotta plates are inspired by the still-living tradition of rotulistas, traditional Mexican letter painters, and are based on a collection of letreros (small advertisements or informational messages left on the streets of Mexico City).