With a theme of “Recover the Streets” the Bien Urbain festival is not so much a Street Art festival as an experiment with public space and our interaction with it. It has been interesting to see how the current romance with Street Art is absorbed by a variety of constituencies during the last decade – whether as tools of change, gentrification, commodification, commercialization, education, or simply celebration, artists are being challenged to see their work differently as well. Here in Besancon, France, we find a very inclusive experience where students and citizens and planners are all invited to participate, discuss, and evaluate the impact of the artists work on the built environment. It’s culture as a wholistic practice.
108 from Italy at work. Bien Urbain 2013. Besançon – East of France (photo © Elisa Murcia Artengo) His bio says he spent 15 years working with traditional graffiti abstract shapes and feels that all of which contain organic roots.
108 from Italy. Bien Urbain 2013. Besançon – East of France (photo © Elisa Murcia Artengo)
Erosie from The Netherlands. Bien Urbain 2013. Besançon – East of France (photo © Yorit Kluitman) With a background in graffiti and lettering, Erosie has been working on a series of paintings and cycles and is a fervent proponet of urban art without blinders.
Erosie from The Netherlands. Bien Urbain 2013. Besançon – East of France (photo © Yorit Kluitman)
Akay from Sweden. Bien Urbain 2013. Besançon – East of France (photo © David Demougeot)
OX from France. Bien Urbain 2013. Besançon – East of France (photo © OX)
OX from France. Bien Urbain 2013. Besançon – East of France (photo © OX)
OX has been repurposing billboards and commercial space to bring it back to its more basic elements. With relatively simple changes directed at the viewer, his reconfiguring gives a new sense of context and purpose to these places, now acting as geometry and sculpture instead of simply a vehicle for commercial messages. The result also makes you reconsider the environment it is placed in.
OX from France. Bien Urbain 2013. Besançon – East of France (photo © Quentin Coussirat)
With our gratitude to David & Johanna for sharing these exclusive images with us.
<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA
Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!
<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA
Other Articles You May Like from BSA:
Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities. Now screening : 1. "Who is TAKI183?", Jim Prigoff and Cedric Godin2. ESPO: A Love Letter For You3. Exquisite Waste...
Two things come to mind simultaneously as we publish this collection of Street Art and graffiti. 1. All the Rainbow Flag waving means nothing if you are not willing to help protect the dignity of...
"Hello amigos, how are you? Hope super fine! " Argentinian abstractionist Elian is in Ekaterinburg riffing on a Russian rhythm of pop-hued panels. Well, except one. He calls the acrylic painting “...
Leon Keers is subversive, if that is the way your mind works. His mind-bending plays on real and surreal perspectives may lead you down a path of suspicion, for it appears that he is adept and agile ...
Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities. Now screening : 1. Tati by Miguel Endara 2. Art as a Weapon: Trailer 3. Art Basel 2013 from Serringe 4. INTI T...