Jef AÉROSOL (born 1957)

Title: Portrait of Elsa Triolet
Technique: Digigraphie on paper
Date: 2016
Edition: Numbered 56/150
Signature: Signed and dated lower right
Paper size: 50 × 50 cm

Critique of the Work

A chiaroscuro homage

In Portrait of Elsa Triolet, Jef Aérosol deploys his mastery of stencil work, rooted in street art yet here transposed onto paper. The writer’s face, muse and companion to Aragon, emerges in gritty black and white, its cracked texture evoking both the erosion of time and the permanence of memory.

The power of words

Next to the portrait, a hand-written text—borrowing from the voices of Aragon and Triolet—infuses the image with literary and political resonance. Words themselves become a visual texture, blurring the line between portrait and manifesto. Elsa Triolet appears not only as a historical figure but also as a poetic emblem of resistance against the violence of life.

Red and black

The background, shaded in gradients of darkness, is pierced by red—color of blood, anger, but also passion. This chromatic tension heightens the drama of the portrait while paying tribute to the intellectual and militant fervor of the Triolet-Aragon couple.

Critical reading

Through this work, Jef Aérosol continues his exploration of memory, engraving in the collective imagination the faces of emblematic figures of the 20th century. The piece merges the immediacy of street art—direct, striking, popular—with a cultural depth that transcends iconography. Portrait of Elsa Triolet is both an image and a voice: the voice of a woman, of an era, and of the enduring power of words.

Biographical Note – Jef Aérosol

Origins and background

Jef Aérosol, born Jean-François Perroy in Nantes in 1957, grew up in the cultural ferment of the 1960s and 1970s, marked by rock music and counterculture—decisive influences in his artistic path.

Pioneer of street art

Based in Lille, he created his first stencils in 1982, becoming one of the pioneers of French street art alongside Blek le Rat, Miss.Tic, and Speedy Graphito. His pseudonym, “Aérosol,” is a nod to the spray can, the tool that allowed him to transpose art into the public sphere.

Style and themes

His works, instantly recognizable for their stark black-and-white contrasts, are often accompanied by a small red arrow—his visual signature. Jef Aérosol creates portraits of cultural icons, anonymous figures, passersby, and mythic characters, weaving together high culture and popular culture, individual memory and collective history.

Career and recognition

Initially visible on the streets of Paris, Lille, and London, his art quickly reached international cities such as New York, Tokyo, Beijing, and Mexico City. His works have been exhibited in major galleries and institutions worldwide, securing his status as a leading figure in the history of street art.

Legacy

Through his portraits, Jef Aérosol seeks to immortalize faces that tell stories, embody struggles, or convey emotions. His oeuvre bridges the ephemeral nature of street art with the permanence of institutional and collector contexts.