Anne-Margot Ramstein

Anne-Margot Ramstein
Period: 2015-2016
Profession: Writer Illustrator, Anne-Margot Ramstein was born on Reunion Island in 1984. After studying graphic arts in Paris, she joined the illustration workshop at the Arts Décoratifs de Strasbourg, and during her studies was an exchange student at the School of Fine Arts in Boston. In collaboration with Matthias Aregui, she published
L’ABC des tracas in 2010 and
Avant après in 2013, with Albin Michel Jeunesse. The latter book, which deals with the elasticity of time, won the Bologna Ragazzi Award at the Bologna Children Books Fair in April 2015, in the non-fiction category. In autumn 2015,
En forme! will be published, her first “solo” book: a sports picture book focusing on the relationship between body and space during physical exercise. In addition to her work as an author, Anne-Marguerite has worked as a press cartoonist for a number of French newspapers, including
Le Monde, Revue XXI, Libération, Les Echos, M3 Magazine, Le Tigre and Revue Dada, as well as for foreign publications such as
Bloomberg and
Corporate Knights. The artistic project that Anne-Margot Ramstein will be developing at Villa Medici, Faune & flore, consists of a hidden picture book parodying classic didactic works, in which a sovereign caption authoritatively names and defines the drawn subject. The focus is on the relationship between text and image, with each drawing accompanied by a caption that doesn’t at first glance seem to fit. At first, the shape of a varied flora takes shape. Then, on closer inspection, the counter-form reveals the fauna hidden within its natural ecosystem. The text relates to animal life and helps to identify what the illustration conceals. This work is inspired by the collections of emblems popular in scholarly circles in the 15th and 16th centuries, which, after meticulous examination, revealed their meaning to the reader/spectator. As for the graphic style, it draws its inspiration from Baroque ornamentation and grotesques.