Since 1966, Ernest Pignon-Ernest has transformed the streets into a canvas for ephemeral art that celebrates its memory, history, events, or myths. In doing so, he has paved the way for numerous artistic experiences that engage with urban space. Through his “in situ” interventions using stencils, drawings, or screen prints developed in locations such as Alger, Soweto, Paris, Nice, Ramallah, Naples, Rome, and Santiago, he has addressed various social and political themes of recent decades, including colonial wars, apartheid, abortion, immigration, undocumented individuals, Chile, and Palestine. His works are enriched by a continuous dialogue with history, art history, poetry, legends, and mythologies. In the 1970s, he collaborated with Julio Le Parc in several artists’ collectives that created murals, notably the International Brigade of Antifascist Painters (Venice, Athens, Nancy…).

Together with friends Antoniao Saura and Jacques Derrida, he co-founded Artists of the World against Apartheid / Art against Apartheid. He has also advised alongside Elias Sanbar in the establishment of the future Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of the Palestinian State.