Artwork by Kairos Acrylic and collage on paper, 29.5 x 21 cm Unique piece, coming signed on the back with a certificate of authenticity 2025
Since 2018, Kairos has been developing an artistic and poetic practice in the "Chemistry Valley," south of Lyon. Around industrial sites, he photographs peripheral zones that remain untouched by human exploitation. These timeless spaces lead to freight trains, onto which Kairos transposes large-scale calligraphies, initially drawn on paper, using paint.
Empreintes Carbone #1 is part of a new series of original works created for the launch of his book Feu in March 2025. The artist, who paints directly onto freight trains, witnesses firsthand their gradual decline in favor of road transport. The privatization of SNCF’s freight division is largely behind this shift—one that runs counter to the climate emergency. Kairos makes this contradiction visible by juxtaposing imprints taken from the world of highways with elements from railway imagery, which he deliberately erases or lets fade away—cropped out, worn by time, or purposefully obliterated.
Black, emerald green, and blue are the three dominant colors in this series. They respectively symbolize the carbon emissions of trucks, rail freight, and France’s highway signage.
