Interview with Stéphanie Macaigne (ENGLISH VERSION)

February 06, 2020

Interview with Stéphanie Macaigne (ENGLISH VERSION)

Travis Scott illustrated by Stéphanie Macaigne -- @s_tph.mcg

"It's my chaotic course that created the link between painting and music"

On November 1, 2018, Stéphanie Macaigne posts on Instagram the cover of the album NAKAMURA by Aya Nakamura reproduced in painting. Since then, Stephanie has continued to paint mainly rap album covers (but not only). Jacques Jacques Magazine spoke with the artist in an interview to talk about her history, her inspirations, her musical tastes, art and also which artists we should follow this year.

NAKAMURA - Aya Nakamura by Stéphanie Macaigne

JACQUES JACQUES MAG: How long have you been painting ? Have you always painted album art ?
Stéphanie Macaigne: I have been drawing since I was little. I did a drawing school in parallel with the college and I learned the "basics" and classic techniques (s/o the Quentin School of St Quentin Tower (02), we worked the charcoal, watercolor, gouache, acrylic paint, and even sculpture. I went there two or three years before entering high school, and after a long break I started to paint almost every day. I didn't always paint album covers; five years ago I lived in Istanbul and it was another context, another world for me; in fact at the time ... (hesitation) ... as I paint what inspires me, in Istanbul I mainly painted the city and its inhabitants, the urban chaos and the beauty that paradoxically arises from this chaos.

Was it obvious to link painting to Rap ?

S.M: I was at a time in my life I just moved to Paris, and I was experiencing a complete break in my sources of inspiration, so, I felt myself like an orphan. I used to paint the people and the city of Istanbul, and when I arrived in Paris, all this universe to which I was used had disappeared around me, and quietly I locked myself in myself, and in me, there was music. And then, as my subjects in painting are things that inspire me in life, and these things are conditioned in part by my environment and by my personal history, then, painting and rap crossed paths. It was my chaotic run that created this link between painting and music.

French Rap or US Rap ?

S.M: Let's say that I listen to French Rap more easily. There was a time when I listened to 100% FR Rap because it took me a while to love English. And when you don't master the subtleties of a language, you find it difficult to understand the finesse of a musical universe. But, for quite some time I've gone beyond that (and I've also improved in English as well) and I think I now listen to both FR and US rap. It must be 60% versus 40% in favor of French rap. I think that FR rap has nothing to envy to American rap today, and all the diversity of current rap is now found in both French rap and US rap.

American album covers or French album covers ?

S.M: I don't know if it's relevant to make this distinction. In any case I have nothing to complain about, I'm very happy with the French-speaking game. There are photographers / graphic designers who do an incredible job, Romain Garcin in Belgium; Fifou, Koria, David Delaplace in France. Raegular too, his visuals for UMLA, I took a visual slap. In any case, I don't think anyone can say that France is behind the US in terms of covers.

Is it the music of an album that makes you want to paint its cover or is it the cover of an album that makes you want to reproduce it ?

S.M: I paint albums that I listen to, it never happened to me to paint the cover of an album that I vaguely liked or disliked at all. When I paint a cover I listen to the entire album at the same time. I try to feel the music as much as possible, and to represent it through my painting. It’s a new experience. I try to capture and give back energy and feelings. Reproducing a visual to reproduce a visual, isn't what I am looking for when I paint, I rather try to transcribe something invisible such as the energy or the rhythm of the music, with visible means, using a visual that will immediately resonate in people’s mind.

Among the covers that you've made, are there any that you prefer ?

S.M: Tough question, but if I really have to answer I would say - among others - Blond by Frank Ocean and To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar (incredible albums !)

Blond - Frank Ocean © Stéphanie Macaigne

To Pimp a Butterfly - Kendrick Lamar © Stéphanie Macaigne

Are these the albums that you prefer from a musical point of view that are your favorite covers ?
S.M: Yes that's it. Like I said, I don't think among the paintings that I've had the most pleasure in making, there's an album I like moderately. But, there are covers are in my eyes pure masterpieces, and necessarily it also comes into account; I don’t paint with my eyes closed when I’m listening to a musical album.

Today you mainly do painting reproduction ? Have you already painted for an artist ?

S.M: Not at all ! Already, I don't share everything I paint. And then regularly I still share paintings that do not belong to the cover series.

On the other hand, I have already co-produced a cover for the mixtape of Wondagurl, Toronto / Paris, for the 2019 RedBull Music Festival. A great experience, a very good memory !

Every weekend I also organize little chats via Instagram where my subscribers can interact. One weekend, I asked people to tell me about an album they really liked, to try to “forget” during exercise what was the original cover of the chosen album , and describe to me what they imagined as a cover when they were listening to this album so that I could paint it. In the end it's a collaborative work, it's a mix between my imagination and the imagination of the other. Between what he imagined while listening to music and what I imagine he imagined while listening to music. It’s a real experience.

Toronto / Paris - Wondagurl © Stéphanie Macaigne x Convoy

This is the painting from the chat via Instagram, realized with Raphaël Meneghini © Stéphanie Macaigne

After posting on Instagram the reproduction in painting of Travis Scott's Astroworld album cover, David LaChapelle, who realized the original, reacted ! What happened in DM with him ?

S.M: The principle of DM is that it's private (laughs), but it's an honor for me that my work has caught his attention. I remain discreet about everything that isn't my feed or my Instagram stories, that's normal !

Astroworld - Travis Scott © Stéphanie Macaigne

You made an exhibition in June 2019 at District B in Paris, are you working on a future exhibition ?

S.M: Yes, it's in progress, I'm working on the narration of the project. This is a project that's very close to my heart and I don't think it will be a "classic" exhibition of painting. What I can say is that, there will inevitably be crossovers between different universes. I would also like to exhibit one day in Brussels for example, this is something I would really like to do.

Do you have Instagram accounts to suggest ?

S.M: Yes, there are a lot of talented people on Instagram. I think of James Zucco, what he does is quite symbolic, because it stands for an especial mood. It would make perfect memes, by the way. There’s also Mr. Flower Fantastic, he makes pairs of sneakers with flowers and it’s super cool. I also think of Shaina McCoy, I really like what she does, and especially the pastel colors that she uses. Shaina paints very large canvases and in a way she makes me dream, because I work in my little Parisian studio, with my small pots of color paint, and it is a dream for me to have room for paint five-meter canvases with large clumps of paint. And then, I could also quote Eser Gündüz, he's a Turkish artist. It’s a great source of inspiration for me, even though our two styles are very different. I advise you to discover these artists.

If you were an album ?

S.M: Wow ... difficult question again! I would like to be a Frank Ocean album obviously, who wouldn't dream of it ? Or, a Dinos album. I would be proud to be a Dinos album. It's like a long poem; for me, he is the spokesperson for something transcends him, and transcends historical time in order to rise towards the universal of poetry precisely. And then, when you listen to him talk about his musical references, you realize that he knows everything, and instead of addressing a very small fraction of listeners, he makes the choice (conscious or unconscious) to speak to everyone, there are all reading levels, he refers to so many areas in his sounds, but always by saying something about himself, and about us at the same time. Anyway, I can't say how I would be this album, besides it would be pretentious after so many compliments.