Roll out the red carpet…
Legendary British culture magazine i-D teamed up with eyewear titan Ray-Ban, asking their favourite artists to reimagine the colour red. The project also invites emerging artists to submit their own red artworks for a chance to feature in a digital zine. Safe to say, Maxime Manga’s burning-hot talent was top of their list.
What does red make you think of? Perhaps lipstick, stop signs, or roses. Perhaps King Crimson’s album Red, or Taylor Swift’s. Perhaps you think of risk. Did you know that boxers who wear red are more likely to win, and that poker players are more likely to bet when they have red chips?
For Maxime, this intensity is crucial. He describes red as the “gentle violence of humanity,” recalling the blood that runs through our veins, the rosy red that flushes our cheeks. ‘Gentle violence’ is also a lens through which to view Maxime’s art, which mixes aspects of life that are often juxtaposed: "Things that normally don’t go together, but when you see them, you realise they were meant to go together," he says. He calls this his ‘chaos’ – and it made him the perfect artist to channel a colour associated with extremes.
Maxime’s final work enshrines a portrait in flecks of red – from crimson to scarlet, ruby to oxblood – and feathers the figure’s shoulders with his signature mixture of soft brushstrokes and jagged, geometric textures. A pair of sunglasses, lifted up and resting on the forehead, allows for a direct gaze. This is red as fiery, urgent, and defiant.
The final piece enshrines a portrait in flecks red from crimson to scarlet, ruby and ox-blood, and feathers the figure’s shoulders with Maxime’s signature mixture of soft brushstrokes and jagged, geometric textures. A pair of sunglasses, lifted up and resting on the forehead, allow for a direct gaze – this is red as fiery, urgent and defiant.