DESIGN and ART MAGAZINE: 10 Question Column: French Street Artist C215

Christian Guémy photographed by Andreas Romagnoli for DAM in front of one his works inspired by Caravaggio at his new exhibition in Rome. The face in the painting is a self-portrait.

Renowned French Street Artist C215, real name Christian Guémy, answers Jeanne-Marie Cilento’s ten questions about his extraordinary life and evocative work, the latest exhibition at Wunderkammern gallery in Rome and the new book C215 by Sabina de Gregori. Portraits by Andreas Romagnoli

Artist Christian Guemy photographed in Rome

CHRISTIAN Guémy is one of the most poetic and successful artists in the world of international street art. His evocative portraits of the lost, the dispossessed and the joyous stare out from walls of cities from Paris to New Delhi and London to Istanbul. And his work has come in from the cold as purely "outsider" art and now hangs in major art galleries in far-flung countries including France, the United States, Spain, Brazil and Russia.The artist finds it a strange anomaly that while he is still arrested by police for creating street art, his work is at the same time sought after by galleries and collectors. But he says his aim with his public artworks is always to choose spaces and walls where his creations add drama and interest to the urban contexts ~ not deface them.

"I use no computer, and cut stencils everyday, in the way other people draw. My process is really basic"

One of Guemy's stencilled street
portraits: Staring (2013)

Guémy himself is no street urchin but a highly-educated artist well aware of his role within the wider art world. He earned a degree in architecture history and theory after having first studied economics, and then went on to receive a PhD in Art History. Beginning his artistic career in 2005, Guémy developed his own style mainly using stencils. While he started in black and white, his current work uses brilliant colour. Guémy likes to depict people on the social fringes in inner urban contexts: both the homeless and disenfranchised and the young and free. He is inspired by Caravaggio's voluptuous expressivity and interested in depicting people's raw emotions. Guémy's exhibition in Rome examines guilt, the necessity of reflecting on the historical past and taking responsibility for our actions.

Lightbox work called Untitled VI (2013)

1. What inspired the themes of your new exhibition Mea Culpa in Rome? I based my show on Catholic iconography looked at through the work of Caravaggio and Artemisia Gentileschi ~ homeless people that I turned into modern icons and cats related to Rome but also to superstition.

There is also a section about power and megalomania, with a few comments on dictatorship linked to guilt and religion. When preparing the show six months ago, I had no idea the pope would resign a few days before the opening of my show in Rome. Being an artist involves making decisions every day. Some decisions effect your career, some artworks make a big impact on you.

2. What role do portraits of people play in your art work?

I get commissions, even if I don't consider myself only as a portraitist, but rather a contemporary artist working on identity. My portraits, when placed in the streets, aim at catching attention and raising emotion. I hope the viewer questions himself to ask "who is that person?". Anonymous faces leave the possibility for identification.

3. How did the moniker “C215” become your famous signature? This moniker came by accident, and despite giving many different explanations for it, it has no real meaning. I used it the first time as a poet, for my first poetry book. I wanted a modern nickname, abstract and industrial, corresponding to our period.

"I consider studio work and the streets as very different. The street art being more spontaneous, while studio works need more time"

Spraypaint work Frutta (2013)

4. How has Caravaggio influenced your work and do you see parallels in his life and work to your own? He's a real master of chiaroscuro and I've been compared to him in that way.

We both turned anonymous and marginal people into icons, and he was a wanderer as I am, leaving artworks behind him as I do. Maybe we are crazy, but as a real painting genius, I wonder how skilled Caravaggio would have been with a spray can.

5. Do you do sketches first or directly paint outdoors for your street art? I use no computer, and cut stencils everyday, in the way other people draw. My process is really basic.

6. When you began your artistic path in 2005 you began with stencils and working in black and white and now you use a lot of vivid colour. What inspires you for your recent works? I like to evolve and make my work more and more complex. Maybe I have an easier life now, and less concerns, so it became natural to use more colours year after year, in the same way my subjects became less heavy. Colour, as well as the subject, always have to be contextual, and what I do is mainly self-expression.

One of C215's famous stencils
of thoughtful cats

7. Is there a street art community here in Rome and will you collaborate again with NUfactory?The street art community in Rome is quite new, so it will take time to speak about a proper scene. Sten and Lex are I think the main representatives of the movement in Rome: they do original art and began a long time ago. I am happy they get the full credit for the birth of street art in Roma.When I painted here for the first time in 2008 they were the only street artists we could find in the city. It was beautiful to find such an ancient and artistic city ~ almost virgin of any street art. Street art became more fashionable and then more people did it, especially after 2010. I worked for the first time with NUfactory in 2010 for the poster festival Outdoor in Garbatella. Collaborating again with them on a wall in Rome was really easy.

"Colour, as well as the subject, always have to be contextual, and what I do is mainly self-expression"

8. How did Sabina de Gregori’s new book C215 come to fruition?This book came as a conclusion to the five years I spent back and forth to paint in Italy, especially in Rome and Milan.

9. Do you think you will continue as a street artist or create more works in a studio? I am getting older, but I will continue to paint in the streets as long as my legs allow me to do it. I consider studio work and the streets as very different. The street art being more spontaneous, while studio works need more time. Basically both sides are equally important, the first part being ephemeral while studio works are made to last "forever". What is important is to do quality artworks, in the studio or outside.

10. Are you happy your daughter Nina is interested in creating Street Art too? My daughter is ten years old, but she is already able to cut a stencil and paint. But it's hard to say she is an artist now: she can become whatever she wants. I decided to paint portraits in the streets for her and I wanted to paint her portrait next to her house and school when her mother and myself got separated. I guess she's rather proud and conscious of what I do now.

Click on pictures for full-screen slideshow of Christian Guemy's work: