For years, people have been asking me for a reissue of my Easy Blablabla screenprint for Philippe Katerine! Well, here it is, finally in a smaller format, justifying a new limited edition print run of 140 copies.
Back in January 2011, I reached out to Philippe Katerine’s agent to pitch my visual idea. The poster was both ironic and quirky, so it could’ve been misunderstood… But just a month later, I got the green light. All that was left to do was print it! Tu parles “blablabla…” is a song that playfully mocks the world with total generosity – that’s Philippe Katerine’s vibe! If Easy Blablabla is a poster that gently pokes fun at his song (in an easy-listening style), it was the perfect tribute to such a wonderfully offbeat artist.
The poster is printed in a 4-color screenprint (6 passes of matte inks + glossy varnish) on 250g Fedrigoni Tintoretto cream paper. The limited edition of 140 copies is available in the artshop.
In 2010, Philippe Katerine released his new album, featuring tracks that would become iconic! Among them were the famous Bla bla bla, Mets ta moustache, and the song Des bisous. That was more than enough to inspire the design of this poster. The music video for La Banane was even shot on a Breton beach with local extras. I also threw in a little nod to a certain “batman” (the first Tim Burton movie poster) – it’s up to you to figure out which one!
In 2011, Philippe Katerine came to the Au Pont du Rock Festival in Malestroit (Morbihan, Brittany), and thanks to the kindness of the organizers, I had the chance to meet him. When I arrived on site, a long wait began. No one knew if the artist would appear before the concert or at what time he would show up… In the end, it was right after the concert (around 9 p.m.), following Catherine Ringer’s amazing performance, that I finally got backstage.
And there I was, discovering Philippe Katerine, just off stage, still shirtless and in a zebra-print bathrobe (!) when he asked me, “Yes, what’s this about?” His big blue eyes stared at me as he listened to me talk about my poster. “Wait, I’ll get dressed,” he said. I pulled out my poster and unrolled it in front of him. “Oh yeah, I remember, I’ve seen it, I really like it.” Philippe, surprised to receive such a gift… until he smelled the poster when I told him it was screenprinted! “Oh, yeah, it has a smell!” Then we had a little chat about my work, and I casually mentioned that getting posters as gifts was much better than having bananas thrown at you on stage. He nodded, laughing, while signing my poster: “Are both posters for me? Thanks, thanks… don’t worry, I already know where I’m putting them.” Meanwhile, the band members gathered around to check out the poster. “Oh yeah, it’s really beautiful.” The drummer chimed in: “And, scientifically speaking, when you die… you stop talking!” We were all joking around and laughing… Let me tell you, it was a real pleasure to chat with such an accessible artist, someone so close to his onstage persona—genuine and good-natured.
Illustration poster by Zig. Text & photos: © 2020 Stéphane Constant – Dezzig
