For Emy n.3

Painted in 2012, For Emy n.3 combines urban calligraphy, layered textures and stencils in a composition that reflects on the origins of the artist’s visual language and on the way in which memory transforms images into symbols.

At the centre of the work is the figure of a child rendered using a stencil, a direct homage to Blek le Rat, the undisputed pioneer of this technique and a key figure in the history of contemporary urban art. The child is gazing at a gigantic letter ‘V’ that dominates the canvas: a monumental presence, almost out of proportion to his own figure.

The relationship between these two elements generates the narrative tension of the work. The letter is not presented as a mere alphabetical character, but as a structure, an architecture and a symbol. The child looks at it with curiosity and attention, as if trying to understand its meaning, yet at the same time appears helpless in the face of its scale and presence. It is the encounter between the individual and something greater than themselves: a sign, a memory, a cultural legacy.

Around this relationship, a surface takes shape through layers of calligraphic overlays, erasures and gestural interventions that evoke the aesthetic of urban walls weathered by time. The writing dissolves into the material, giving way to a broader reflection on the power of images and symbols to accompany growth, development and the construction of identity.

As in much of Kende’s work, the language of graffiti is here stripped of its original function to become a visual experience and a mental space. The ‘V’ does not ask to be read: it asks to be observed.

TITLE: For Emy n.3
YEAR: 2012
TECHNIQUE: Mixed media on wood
WIDTH: 218 cm
HEIGHT: 218 cm
THICKNESS: 8 cm
CATALOGUE:FE312
ORIGINAL: Not available
PRINTS: Available