It could almost seem that I am relentlessly passionate about this kind of art. But it was always only for a few seconds and mainly because I live nearby, actually around the corner. Thanks to this, I had the opportunity to regularly follow the artist's work. Seeing how the wall transforms every day. I was surprised that it turned pink at first. I was even more interested in what would happen next. Gradually, contours began to appear on the surface, which were colored and acquired their specific form. Every day I watched an artist working tirelessly at a wall or mixing paint at a car. And sometimes there were two. I was looking for the courage to approach him for a long time. The wall was slowly coloring and I knew that the guy in the cap wasn't going to be there forever.
"Hello, I work in an art gallery and I would like to invite you to work with me..." I finally blurted out. The kind smile of the addressed person and his outstretched hand foreshadowed that he would not send me to hell. "Hello, nice to meet you, I'm Vincent!" Phew! How simple it was! I briefly explained to Vincent Chignier why I was interested in inviting him to join us, how we try to work with the students in public space and how important it is for us to reach out and invite an artist who is familiar with street art. We exchanged e-mail addresses and agreed that he would let me know if he would be interested in working with us. And it worked. Even though Vincent is a Frenchman who lives in Šternberk! We agreed on the January date and topic of the meeting in advance.
On Friday, January 27, Vincent came to a meeting with students who are participating in the fourth year of the program called Our street art. As part of the presentation, he introduced his work, which is very diverse. I think we were all surprised by the billboard that will hang in Paris as part of the Summer Olympics. He told us about the realization of a mural with the theme of Gustav Mahler, which he created in our city. About problems with the weather, about the time slip and his father, who came from France to help him. Of course, not only the pupils were interested in how a French graduate of the Sorbonne University ended up in the Czech republic, and how he learnt perfect Czech. The whole meeting was very relaxed, the narration was cheerful and extremely interesting. At the end, Vincent offered the students his prints from various realizations and signed them all. Thanks a lot Vincent! And we look forward to the next meeting!
Pavlína Pitrová, January 2023
