C215

C215 – Biography, Screenprints, Lithographs and Stencils by Christian Guémy

C215 is the street name of Christian Guémy, born in 1973 in Bondy, just outside Paris, and one of the finest stencil artists working today. His finely cut, brightly coloured portraits of children, passers-by, homeless people, cats and historical figures cover walls in Paris, Vitry-sur-Seine and dozens of cities worldwide, making him one of the most exhibited and collected French street artists.

Le Coin des Arts currently offers several works by C215: the screenprints Nina Plume (2011), Charly in caramel, orange and pink (2016) and Essaouira, and the lithographs Bacchus and Baccho (2014), blind-stamped by the Idem Paris studio. To hear about new arrivals, ‘follow the artist’ on this page.

From historian to stencil artist

Guémy studied history and art history at the Sorbonne and worked in publishing before taking up stencils in the early 2000s. His most constant model is his daughter Nina, whose face appears on walls across the world and in the Nina Plume screenprint. In 2006 he settled in Vitry-sur-Seine, which he helped turn into one of the great open-air street art galleries near Paris.

The C215 style

He works with multi-layered stencils cut by hand with a scalpel, spraying layer upon layer of aerosol paint over coloured or textured grounds, then adding a network of fine lines reminiscent of engraving. He favours the overlooked: rough sleepers, refugees, street children, and countless cats. He paints on walls but also on found objects such as letterboxes, doors, road signs, old wood and metal.

In London and the UK

C215 built an early following in Britain. Between 2009 and 2011 he showed regularly with the Signal Gallery in London’s Shoreditch, at the heart of the East End street art scene, and painted many portraits on its walls, alongside the leading names of British urban art.

Major projects in France

He has worked in many heritage sites: E=MC215 at the Musée des Arts et Métiers (2015), Illustres!, a series of portraits of the great men and women of the Panthéon (2018), the Invalides, and the Mémorial de la Shoah (2022), with portraits of deported children.

C215 prints: screenprints and lithographs

Alongside unique works, C215 publishes limited-edition prints of his portraits. Screenprints keep the crispness of the cut and the punch of aerosol colour, while lithographs printed at Idem Paris, the former Mourlot studio where Picasso and Chagall worked, have a more painterly texture, as in Bacchus and Baccho (2014).

Buying C215: a buyer’s guide

Signature and edition. Original prints are signed in pencil and numbered; a studio blind stamp such as Idem Paris adds assurance.

Colourways. Some images, such as Charly, exist in several colours, each with its own edition.

Unique stencils. Stencils on found objects are one-offs and worth far more than prints.

Condition. See our authenticity page, and use UV-filtering glazing when framing.

Discover more street artists at the gallery: JonOne, Invader, SEEN, Shepard Fairey and Keith Haring.

Sources and further reading

Official C215 website · Signal Gallery, London, 2009-2011 · Centre des monuments nationaux, Illustres!, Panthéon, 2018.