Emmanuel Flipo

Etude Topographique, Emmanuel Flipo, 2008

The series "Etude topographique" is one of the most extended by Emmanuel Flipo. It is composed by watercolor painting and collage works created from found materials.[3] Influenced by the Asian calligraphy as well as by the Russian constructivism Flipo developed his topographic studies. The work's structure could be transformed to the nature surrounding us. So the artist creates a particular combination of shapes, subtle lines and free spaces. He names his artistic vocabulary "Figuration particulière and moléculaire". Based on the idea that the artist should stay out of focus, Emmanuel Flipo operates rather than "medium" for the cycle "Etude topographique". (According to the ideas of the French artistic movement Supports/Surfaces meaning that the work itself should be focused - and not the artist.) Most of the forms and colors - created by found colors, leaves, feathers, rests of wallpapers - remind the spectator of an accident or coincidence. The used material mix results in surface structures full of suspense.

Collage, Emmanuel Flipo, 1998

Most of the big scale collage works by Emmanuel Flipo are implicated in the "Etude topographique". For this cycle Flipo combines the technique of collage, painting, and drawing. For these pieces the artist refers once more to the French artist group - amongst others the artists of Support/Surfaces deal with the democratization of the used materials - whether found or bought - the creative process and the final piece.

For his collage works Flipo uses only found material: whether linoleum, card or wooden boards, colors, coffee, leaves... picked up in the street, in the garden or at the collecting point. Due to the particular material mix the artist creates a multilayered surface, referring to the history and erosion of each material as well as of this one of the final piece. This mutation - due to time - of the art work is an important part of the Flipo's work.[4]

Relicts of the performances "Extra-territorialité", with Jonathan Abbou, L'Usine 64, 2007, Photo: Emmanuel Flipo

Emmanuel Flipo realized his first performance called "El Nino" in 1996 in New York City at the 53rd street. It deals with geopolitics and global warming - (not only) at this time a subject discussed very often in the media.[5] By performing Flipo becomes a part of the artistic work, and the creative process is centered. Only the documentation stays for an audience who didn't participate in the performances itself, like in the works of Joseph Beuys - analyzed by Flipo in detail, especially his notion of the "Gesamtkunstwerk" and the rapport of life and art. On the occasion of the performances films are realized. These films as well as the relicts are declared as artworks. Furthermore, photos by artists Igor Vishnyakov or Jonathan Abbou, invited by Flipo to his performances, are part of the final work. By the intentional involving as well as the exclusion of the spectator, the application of music, fire, water, earth... Flipo continues his occupation with the circle of life and related subjects and creates spaces far in excess of the seen elements.:[3]

View of the performance "La Niña by Emmanuel Flipo, Copenhagen, 2009, Photo: Nicolas Chorier

On the occasion of the COP15 in Copenhagen (2009), Emmanuel Flipo drew one of his modelised representations of the world using pigments thrown to the wind.[6] This performance entitled "La Niña" in front of the audience gathered in the Sankt Hans Torv square in Copenhagen, aims at making the public aware of the future upheavals, and the grave environmental problems that are threatening our planet if we do not change our lifestyle and consumer habits. This art work with its urban proportions takes a geographical dimension where aerial and terrestrial photographs give the public an idea of the different scales used.[7]

2010 : Squat Rivoli, Paris / France

2007 : Usine 64, Montreuil

2002 : Centre d’Art « Stop Art », San Jose, California

1999 : Galerie Rodriguez Degranier, New York

1992 : CRDC, Rosny-sur-Seine

1988 : Galerie Hélène Trintignan, Montpellier

2017 : Art Compulsion, Montpellier

2009 : "Le Carré dans l‘Art", Galerie Blumann, Paris / France

2009: Studio of Jonathan Abbou, Montreuil

1987 - 1990 : Artist of the Gallery Blackman Havey, London

1988 : Galerie Clavé, Guadalajara, Mexico

1986 : Galerie Hélène Trintignan, Montpellier