"It is impossible not to immediately recognize any work he has created as his. Mister Zozo world is cohesive, profoundly distinctive and completely unique.“
Emil Ferris
mister zozo
Sylvain Granjon, aka Mister ZoZo is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist born in the 1970s.
He works and lives in Paris.
Spending his 20 and 30s travelling the world delighting audiences with humorous, high energy and acrobatic performances.
Embodying the dark humour and slapstick comedy synonymous with Sylvain’s genre of theatre, his work is a colourful explosion of bizarre and charming characters, akin to catching the sadness and surprise in the performance clown’s eye after he has been hit over the head by a rubber fish.
He is regularly exhibited in Europe (Spain, Norway, Serbia, France, Portugal, Belgium, Switzerland, Georgia, Romania) , participates in many festivals (Rencontres d’Arles, Fotofever, Festival Circulations, Le Voyage à Nantes, Encuentro de Imagen, Madrid Photo, Belgrad Fest, Tbilisi Festival…) and his images have integrated various collections (Jo Baio New York, Sunnhordland Museum Norway, GGD Paris…)
A few words from fans of his art
“Sylvain Granjon is one of those rare artists who can create a completely and fully realized world.
It is a world of bright uncompromising color. It is a world that is both child-like and utterly adult at the exact same time. It is a world wherein whimsy nearly – but not totally – obscures the profound darkness of life, creating a dissonance that is as disquieting as it is engaging…
Granjon’s devotion to his work is highly admirable and his output is prodigious. Sylvain Granjon’s work unsettles us and emblazons itself on our vision. It is impossible not to immediately recognize any work he has created as his. His world is cohesive, profoundly distinctive and completely unique.“
American comic book artist Emil Ferris
« The images of Sylvain Granjon stand out in a photographic world of endless generic images that lack impact and originality. In particular these images contain aspects of comedy, absurdity and surrealism which was an important characteristic of art photography during the 1920’s and 1930’s.
Sylvain Granjon has been able to utilize abandoned photographs to create a rebirth which has immediate impact on a viewer’s visual memory . One is immediately struck by the incongruity in the composition between the real and unreal.
Although Sylvain comments that there is something sacrilegious in his approach, one could also view it as a reincarnation. His approach is partial photographic and alternatively collage ; expanding the parception of what defines a photograph. »
South African photographer Roger Ballen
“I have known Sylvain Granjon for years. He was riding a unicycle in one of my movies. And then he left for other adventures, photography, amazing hacks, fanciful drawings, crafts. I really like what he invents: it's original, inspired and always funny. Nothing is more pleasant than a guy (him, in this case) who doesn't take himself seriously. It has become so rare these days. "
French director Patrice Leconte
« I was in the circus … until the accident". That is a reasonable version of how Sylvain Granjon replied to my "tell me about yourself" question last summer in Arles. My heart soared with the prospect of pictures made by someone who has been communicating to a very different - non-photographic - audience; there was the possibility of magic. I want to make special mention of my encounter with him, whose reminded me that it's delight that is at the heart of photography, and that is what engages me. »
W.M Hunt Halsted and Hunt (New-York), Gallery Director and collector and author of "The Invisible Eye" (Actes Sud)