François Tihy aka Double B – LBD Cars, pop art collage on linen canvas

LBD Cars, a pop art collage born from the street

LBD Cars is a pop art collage created in 2023 by François Tihy, who signs his works Double B. A self-taught artist, he champions instinct, pleasure, and improvisation over learned technique: each collage is for him an adventure where chance plays a role. The materials come from the street—concert and show posters torn from walls, advertising fragments, papers destined for oblivion by the city—which he collects and recomposes on the canvas.

This gesture extends that of the poster artists of Nouveau Réalisme, who were the first to make the torn poster a work of art in its own right. But Double B's vocabulary is resolutely pop: brand emblems, manufactured objects, and icons of popular culture become the material for a commentary on the contemporary world.

Reading the work

In LBD Cars, the artist brings several registers of images into collision. At the center, a weapon is superimposed on a chromed car emblem; above, flames lick a wireframe globe while a stylized wildcat emerges in the corner. All around, fragments of concert and performance posters—silhouettes, typography, ornamental motifs—compose a saturated backdrop. The title, which combines the weapon and the emblem of consumerism, sets the tone: this pop art collage confronts desire, commodity, and urban violence in a single image, without ever taking sides.

Technical characteristics of the work

Technical and support

The work combines collage of torn posters and mixed media on a 2cm thick linen canvas stretched over a frame. Made entirely by hand and delivered unframed, it is a unique piece: the very nature of the recycled collage makes any identical reproduction impossible.

Format and colors

LBD Cars is presented in portrait format, 116 cm high by 89 cm wide (H 45.7 × W 35.0 in), for a weight of 3,3 kg. The contrasting palette is dominated by black, red and the orange of the flames, highlighted with accents of yellow and blue — a visual intensity characteristic of the artist's pop aesthetic.

Conservation state

This recent work from 2023 is in excellent condition. The wear marks, cracks, and tears visible on its surface are inherent to the torn poster technique: they tell the story of the paper's past and are integral to the artwork. The collage is signed "Double B" in an oval cartouche in the lower right corner. A unique piece, LBD Cars appeals to lovers of pop art collage and socially engaged contemporary art.

What we appreciate about LBD Cars is its directness. Double B doesn't simply assemble pretty fragments; he juxtaposes images—the weapon and the brand emblem, the flame and the globe—to say something about our times. This tension, conveyed through a saturated palette and a keen sense of composition, gives the work an immediate presence. François Tihy is one of those self-taught artists who, without academic constraints, instinctively rediscover the critical power of Pop Art and the torn poster. A unique piece for the contemporary art lover who appreciates works with something to say.
— The team The Auctionlab