Alpha & Chris Mason Dit Hipkiss "heat A Sunny On" 2006 Ecology

Alpha & Chris Mason aka Hipkiss (active since 1964) Heat a Sunny On, 2006 Graphite and ink on paper signed lower right and titled on the right the subject measures 40 x 70 cm Provenance Galerie Objet Trouvé, certificate on the back of the frame Framed Available in Paris 17 Very careful shipping to metropolitan France I can be reached for any request fredericchavanne@hotmail.com 06 62 70 08 91 Biography Alpha and Christopher Mason were born in the United Kingdom in 1964 and married in 1986. Shortly after meeting in London in 1983, they began to collaborate creatively in several disciplines. Their visual projects were consolidated around drawing, a medium for which they had shared a devotion since their adolescence; they called their artist duo "Hipkiss". In 2001, they emigrated to France and settled, five years later, in a nature reserve in the rural southwest of the country, where they continue to live and work. The couple pursued university studies, in their youth and adulthood, in subjects such as mathematics, computer science, political geography, sociology, photography, and media production, which still inform their artistic world today. They share a fascination with ornithology, entomology, architecture—the beautiful, the industrial—and a deep concern for the environment that dates back to their meeting in the animal rights movement. The duo’s primary goal is to create aesthetic landscapes while largely limiting their palette to monochrome. In doing so, they have devoted their careers to a deep exploration of the possibilities of their chosen mediums. Silver ink, often applied under graphite, enhances its reflective qualities; on its own, it provides a countertexture. Metallic leaf is used to adorn the works; leaves and splashes of colour are sometimes added to draw the eye. However, the ultimate goal of this supporting cast is only to highlight and showcase the star of the show: the humble pencil. Hipkiss’s works are characterized by a meticulous yet anarchic style, echoing the creative relationship between two individuals in symbiosis. Their themes revolve around the inevitable meeting of elemental pairs and the resulting power play: human creation versus nature, feminine forces versus masculine forces, democracy versus authoritarianism. Under the artist’s eye, these conjunctions, laden with potential antagonisms, are snapshots in time where any conflict crystallizes and becomes visible. Upon closer inspection, the work reveals the inherent creative process: the drawings are not the result of solitary reverie, but rather perceptions of our world as it is, between shared visions and reality. Hipkiss is represented in various collections, including FRAC Picardie and Occitanie (FR), The Metropolitan Museum of Art (NY), Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (NL), John Michael Kohler Art Center (WI), Cindy Sherman, Rudolf Zwirner, Antoine de Galbert, Kupferstichkabinett (DE) and The Whitworth (UK). A two-time recipient of the DRAC Occitanie grant and four-time recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant, Hipkiss has been exhibited internationally, including at the following institutions: The Drawing Center (NY), La Maison Rouge (FR), David Zwirner (NY), The Irish Museum of Modern Art (IE), La Caixa (ES), The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art (CT), Tate Britain (UK), Whitechapel (UK) and New Museum (NY). "Hipkiss" is the pseudonym of Alpha and Christopher Mason, formerly known collectively as "Chris Hipkiss".