The Emperor is a drawing about responsibility. The three monkeys of wisdom see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, but what about the responsibility to act? And if the masses remain unmoved by the damaging actions of a group or individual out of self-interest or cowardice, are they not equally responsible? If we are endowed with an intellectual or emotional intelligence that gives us an advantage over others, is it not our duty to use it wisely? For the artist, The Emperor is the expression of his questions about responsibility, politics, domination and submission. He questions his own responsibility as an individual by drawing a scene where an emperor who subjugated his fellow creatures thanks to their greed led the other species to their end. He thus represents the different periods of our History where individuals concerned with their own interests have led groups and societies, ultimately leading them to their own desolation.
The Emperor is one of the nine drawings in the 6VILISATION series, whose common thread is the sixth mass extinction (Holocene), which the artist uses to evoke his reflections on existence, both his own and that of our species. The animals represented here belong to the group of mammals and more particularly to the primates.
The drawing is made with a black technical felt pen on a 160g/m² white paper which darkens somewhat with time and light, thus recalling its vegetal origin.
