Hello!
I’m Rudy Marchal, self-taught artist and founder of CAMPINKCOSMOS. And I need your help to realise my dream of a workspace dedicated to my art and celebrating its cultural importance to the LGBTQ+ community.

I have found the perfect home for the CampInkCosmos project in BAZAAR St-So in Lille (Fr). BAZAAR St-So is dedicated to The Social Solidarity Economy. The former industrial space is now home to shared workspaces, an art gallery, a bar/canteen and an events/conference hall.

I intend to move there on December 1, 2020, and will at first focus on the CampInkCosmos silkscreen-printing workshop.
Tweets by Bazaar_StSo
Bazaar St-SoCAMPINKCOSMOS:

CAMP is the expression of an LGBTQI+ sensitivity, typified by characteristics such as irony, aestheticism, theatricality and humour. Being camp means having fun with gender and sexuality, playfully disrupting the proscriptive conventions of the dominant culture.

INK is what flows from us. We use it to beautify and illuminate, to testify to our experiences, champion our allegiances and proclaim our connection to people and places, ideas and ideals.
As tattoo artist since 2009, I have a cult following among the gay community. My designs feature not only on skin but also –thanks to screen-printing – on t-shirts, postcards, posters and more.

COSMOS is my universe, and also a tribute to "Camping Cosmos", a must-see Belgian film directed by Jan Bucquoy in 1996.This project is my desire to defend and share the values of the camp movement and to share them with other artists or with the curious in search of creativity and learning.
My aim is to create a Sputnik-like, post-punk chalet within the communal space for CampInkCosmos. This will initially house a screen-printing space, dedicated to the culture and values of the CAMP movement, and reminiscent of the high camp atmosphere of the ’70s.

THE CAMPINKCOSMOS WORKSHOP:
♦ The friendly, safe and comfortable space will encourage discussion and creation (by appointment only)
♦ The screen-printing station is where our fabulous creations will be printed on both paper and textiles. And, once we've settled in, we also intend to run occasional screen printing training courses in a dedicated space within BAZAAR St-So, accessible to all apprentice cosmonauts who are ready for lift off!
♦ The "Fair Wear & Fair Trade" e-shopping planet, featuring limited edition products and artworks sustainably made in France and the EU from eco-responsible materials is under construction.
"SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW":
♦ We’ll also have scheduled launches and landings at music festivals, carnivals and LGBTQI+ events, both near and far, from dawn to dusk.
♦ "Encounters of the third kind" so that CampInkCosmos forges its links with the multicolored planet!Pre-Stonewall LGBTQI+ culture was hidden in the shadows of the metaphorical closet.

To talk about my style, I also have to talk about my job as a tattoo artist.
Tattoos and screen printing are the perfect pair, as the drawing technique is complementary.
I have produced more than 600 designs, and have several themed catalogues that I update regularly, committing myself to reproducing each sketch only once, for a unique and personalised tattoo or a limited edition series of T-shirts.
Tattoo Sketches / Illustrations are ubiquitous in queer sub-culture. The symbols and codes hidden in the tattoos of the European and American “old school” as well as those of the Weimar Republic became visible symbols in post-Stonewall era streets and metro stations and are commonplace today in underground circles.

Prints on T-shirts, illustrations and Street Art from the queer world are another way of showing who we are and what we value, sharing and promoting LGBTQI+ visibility.
INK flows from us!
Come with us, stepping out of closet and into the light!
We will therefore donate part of the selling price of t-shirts, postcards and posters featuring maritime-themed silk-screened illustrations to the SNSM/France (a member of the International Maritime Rescue Federation).
https://www.snsm.org/
https://www.international-maritime-rescue.org/

CAMPINKCOSMOS Workshop

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