Fuji Xerox Iridesse brings graffiti art to life on paper

Fuji Xerox Singapore collaborated with artists to produce an exclusive collection printed on the Production Printer, Iridesse. The collaboration was done with renowned graffiti artist, Didier “Jaba” Mathieu, and Jonathan Kiat, co-founder of multi-displinart studio System Sovereign.

The collection featured all-new works by Mathieu and offered insight into how the Colombian’s art was inspired through his travels and experiences. As part of the production process, Mathieu and Kiat collaborated closely with Fuji Xerox to capture the essences of Iridesse’s specialty dry inks gold, silver, white, pink and clear in the print output.

“We are so excited to work with Didier Mathieu, one of the world’s most prominent graffiti artists. For an artist who is used to outdoor walls as a medium for his artwork, this project represents an important step into the era of graffiti art being brought to life on paper and through the use of digital print,” said Timothy Julian Howard, associate director, graphic communication services, Fuji Xerox Singapore. The collection comprise of five distinctively different books - Roots, Memoirs, Noir, Dreamscape, Jaba. Best described as a mixed media of hyper-realistic and abstract, with an inclination towards a wild style, the art pieces are purposefully designed to bring out the brilliance of Fuji Xerox’s Production Printer, Iridesse.

“As an artist who has worked on many digital art projects, it has been a great pleasure to play with different mediums and inks for my creations. And I’m grateful that I have had the full support and creative freedom from Fuji Xerox Singapore to do what I love,” said Mathieu.

The collection was showcased at Fuji Xerox Singapore’s Print Reimagined event from 9 to 10 December 2020. Out of the five books, two stood out for its use of specialy inks.

Inspired by specialty White Dry Ink, Noir is described as a timeless piece that shows black-white dualism. Pushing the possibilities of printing on matt-coated black paper, Mathieu and Kiat created this book to experiment and showcase the White Dry Ink's high brightness and opacity that contrasted favourably against a black canvas.

In JABA, Kiat was given full artistic control to experiment and recreated Mathieu’s pieces in his own style. The brilliance of the vivid Pink Dry Ink added a pop-of-colour not seen in the other books.