The Fabien Castanier Gallery is excited to present a showcase of work from French artist, Speedy Graphito, at this year's Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary art fair, taking place January 11-15, 2018. The gallery's booth, PB190, will feature the newest pieces from the artist. We take a look back at Speedy Graphito's work over the past 6 years...
Speedy's artistic universe has always been built on an honest dialogue concerning the role of the image within modern society. Since the inception of his career in the 1980s, his work has dealt with concepts of commercialism, iconography, and pop culture. The ever changing nature of his subject matter, with new motifs and icons that evolve and emerge over time, has allowed him to take his art into myriad directions. He traverses all mediums, from painting to film and photography, sculpture and installation. Speedy has influenced a generation of artists and continues to pioneer the use of pictorial languages and the satirical appropriation of characters in contemporary art.
ABOVE: Short film on Speedy Graphito's artistic universe and his 2017 exhibition in Miami, "An American Story", by Thomas Granovsky
Speedy's first solo exhibition in the U.S. was held at the Fabien Castanier Gallery in the fall of 2011, and the gallery has since remained the artist's exclusive representation in North America. Since then, the gallery has held three more solo shows as well as featured Speedy's work at preeminent art fairs. With a growing audience in the U.S., Speedy has also developed new and important ventures in his native France. Most recently, the artist's work has been inducted into his first museum, Le Musée du Touquet-Paris-Plage, with a retrospective exhibition entitled "Un Art De Vivre" that took place from October 2016 - May 2017. Last year he also had a solo show, "Big Buzz", held at the renowned l’Espace d’Art Contemporain André Malraux in Colmar, as well as "A World of Dreams" solo exhibition at Galerie Polaris in Paris.
ABOVE: Speedy Graphito's "Big Buzz" exhibition in 2017.
2018 will see Speedy Graphito reach new horizons as he continues to expand in Europe and North America. The Palais Du Tau in Reims, France, will host a retrospective exhibition on Speedy's work, from January to April of this year. Additionally, the artist has a new monograph from Somogy Editions d'Art, "The World of Speedy Graphito" that will launch at the end of January.*
*The Fabien Castanier Gallery is selling copies of Speedy's new book, "The World of Speedy Graphito". Contact us to get your copy.
"The World of Speedy Graphito" will be released in both French and English, with text by Florent Hugoniot, Stéphanie Pioda, Gérard Lemarié and Speedy Graphito. This 256 page monograph highlights the artist's most notable work and evolution of style from the 1980s up until today.