Jean-Michel Alberola 'My name is not Pierrot, my name is Ferdinand'

The exhibition of Jean-Michelle Alberola's serigraphs was organized in collaboration with the French Institute in St Petersburg.
Jean-Michel Alberola was born in a French family in Algeria in 1953. He then moved to France in 1962 and studied at the Marseilles Academy of Art. He currently lives and works in Le Havre, Paris and Naples. Alberola was recently decorated with the gold medal of the city of Paris.

Jean-Michel Alberola first showed his works at a group exhibition in the Toulon Salon (1975-76). He acquired fame after his works were included in the permanent exhibition of the Musee d'Art Moderne in Paris. His first personal exhibition, Susanna and the Elders, was held at the Galerie Daniel Templeton in Paris in 1982. Since then, the artist has held more than thirty one-man shows. One of his most extraordinary exhibitions was the series of wall paintings that he presented in Bratislava.

The Jean-Michel Alberola exhibition at the Marble Palace is the artist's first show in Russia. It includes twenty serigraphs edited by Eric Linard, among them Pierrot - Ferdinand, Dangerous Poison, Dedication to Cezanne and Tototati. The creation of the serigraphs was preceded by engravings made in collaboration with Pierrot Crommelink.

Serigraphy is a special form of engraving that became especially popular with Andy Warhol.

The exhibition has already visited Central and Eastern Europe. The highlight of the Russian showing, however, is the painting Susanna and the Elders: The Mute (1987-88), a central fixture in the permanent exhibition of the Ludwig Collecton in the Russian Museum.

Jean-Michel Alberola's serigraphs combine features of posters, graffiti, slogans, calligraphy and, of course, painting.