Paris

Street Artist RUBBISH for Le M.U.R. in Paris

February 11, 2013 ,

Rubbish, the French Street Artist who can work for endless hours to finely cut paper as intricately as lace, is taking his turn at the Le M.U.R wall in Paris right now.  Still pretty new to the scene, the Besançon based artist has a meticulous cutting method influenced by painting, mythology, even Art Nouveau. Recent portraiture subjects have been poets from the Beat Generation like Burroughs, Kerouac, Ginsberg, but he is more of an emotional romantic than they were.

Rubbish (photo © Laurence Pierrain-Mateudi)

With his first solo show in November at Le Cabinet d’Amateur, this guys’ work may remind you of Swoon’s paper cutting in the late 2000s and his portraits have a forlorn quality found in the subjects of French stencilist C215.  Whatever his influences, he is clearly still exploring and he happily covered selected regions of this 8 meter x 3 meter wall with with a certain organic symmetry in placing these large works of cut paper on a cold late January day. According to Jean Emmanuel Voltz, who curated this choice, this kind of Rubbish is a “Good discovery”.

Rubbish. Detail. (photo © Laurence Pierrain-Mateudi)

Rubbish. Detail. (photo © Laurence Pierrain-Mateudi)

Rubbish (photo © Laurence Pierrain-Mateudi)

Rubbish. Detail. (photo © Laurence Pierrain-Mateudi)

Rubbish (photo © Laurence Pierrain-Mateudi)

To learn more about RUBBISH’s work click here.

To learn more about Le M.U.R. click here.

 

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Fat Riot Invades Montmartre Streets in Paris

October 13, 2012 , , ,

Wheat-Pasting Botero, David Gouny Rolls Out a New Collection

Like a tray of hot chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies these one-off hand painted wheat pastes have been just been served in the area of Montmartre to the streets of Paris. A Botero for the urban art fan, Street Artist David Gouny has specialized in plumply chunky everyday characters and idealized rotund super sheroes in bikinis and high heels in top-down convertibles since the mid-2000s.

David Gouny. Montmartre, Paris 2012. (photo © David Gouny)

Often comical, fashionable, or even erotic, the strutting ladies in Gouny’s scenes can be comical in their placement or tableau. With this little chubby collection Gouny appears to widen his family of characters to include a more cultural references than previously- including one Russian hatted tribute to the activists Pussy Riot. As ever, the central focus continues as the heralded full-figured gals he loves who have so much to offer.

David Gouny. Montmartre, Paris 2012. (photo © David Gouny)

David Gouny. Montmartre, Paris 2012. (photo © David Gouny)

David Gouny. Montmartre, Paris 2012. (photo © David Gouny)

David Gouny. Montmartre, Paris 2012. (photo © David Gouny)

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Galerie Itinerrance Presents: LUDO “Metal Militia” (Paris, France)

September 11, 2012 , , , , , ,

LUDO

“I’ve been working hard this summer and I’m pleased to let you know that I have a solo show opening next week, first time ever showing in my home town Paris.
The show is called “Metal Militia”, opening september 14th at Galerie Itinerrance.
It’s a mix of canvases, this is the first time I’ll be showing big works on canvases plus pieces on paper and sculptures. All the pieces are graphite and oil painting”. LUDO

LUDO (image © Courtesy of the artist)

Au travers de son oeuvre Ludo relie le monde des plantes et des animaux avec notre univers technologique et  notre « quête de modernité », il observe l’humanité, déchiffre notre société afin de mieux s’exprimer dans les limites qu’elle impose.
Ses premières incursions dans l’art de rue ont eu lieu il y a plus de 10 ans. Il se tourne vers le collage en 2007 afin de maintenir une approche transgressive tout en se protégeant des peines juridiques les plus sévères.
« Revanche de la Nature ». Le titre inquiétant de sa série convient à son contenu : un nouvel ordre, dans lequel la faune et la flore se sont métamorphosés en des organismes hybrides, des créatures chimériques qui s’approprient les attributs de notre société, afin de reprendre leur place sur notre planète.
Des caméras de sécurité s’échappent des pistils d’un lis ; les abeilles voltigent, cachées derrière masques à gaz, des crânes humains se regroupent pour former une grappe de  raisin.

Tirées avec précision d’illustrations botaniques,

LUDO (image © Courtesy of the artist)

7bis, rue R. Goscinny 75013 Paris
Visite sur Rendez vous au (+33)06 19 98 06 33
Métro Ligne 14/ RER C  Bibliothèque François Mitterrand

 

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On The Road With Nanook, Ever, Sten & Lex Through Italy and France

September 10, 2012 , , , , ,

What did you do this summer? We’re starting off the week with a colorful and detailed travelog  from Rosanna Bach, who really gives BSA readers a sense of the experience for Street Artists who go to distant places to create their art on walls for fun and festivals. Thanks to Rosanna as photographer and contributor, here you have an opportunity to spend some time in Italy traveling with Ever, Nanook, Sten & Lex as they go from Rome to Foligno, Italy. She documents their participation for the second edition of Attack Festival and captures the artists working under the scorching sun and in intimate, quiet settings. In this BSA exclusive Rosanna also put in words her summer experiences as she leaves Foligno for Paris where she documented EVER as he participated in Le Mur.

Roma to Foligno. We de-board the train and are about to exit the station when Ever waves me back. Sten is scuttling back and forth in the train like a trapped hamster. We thought he was stuck in there looking for an open door so we wave him over to the open door but he does not get out. He is struck with confusion as different orders fly from different directions. Meanwhile, the passengers are hanging over the windows to see what all the fuss is about.

Mission accomplished; Laptop is retrieved.

Barely begun, this trip already seems promising.

Ever. Roma to Foligno. (photo © Rosanna Bach)

Foligno, Italy. This was once called the “Centre of the World” because the Pope had supposedly kept his treasury here in the 15th century. It is certainly a beautiful place, although considerably more modest than its name implies. This is where we would spend the next five days and would be introduced to the “Hurdi Gurdi”. It is also a place where it seems that the solution to every problem was, “Lets go have a coffee”.

Sten & Lex, Nanook, and Ever had been painting together at the Open Walls Festival in Baltimore just a few months back. Three very different artists, from three corners of the world, were here meeting again in the “Centre of the World” for the second ever “Attack Festival”.  Upon arrival we learn that we have arrived early. Two months early!

In September Foligno’s Attack Festival will be graced by the likes of; 108, Andrea Abbatangelo, Achille, Airone,  Bol 23,  Danilo Bucchi, Stefano Canto,  Mario Consiglio, Diamond TTS, Alberto Di Fabio, Ericailcane, Hitnes, Hogre,  JB Rock, Kindergarten,Lucamaleonte, Martina Merlini&Tellas, Roman Minin, Moneyless, Ozmo, Alice Pasquini, Cristiano Petrucci, David Pompili, David Eron Salvadei, Ale Senso, Sten&Lex.

Main Square, Foligno, Italy. (photo © Rosanna Bach)

Nanook, Ever and Sten & Lex check out their new walls. Foligno, Italy. (photo © Rosanna Bach)

Sten & Lex. The two Italians have been working together for more then 10 years and are considered kind of the “Mama and Papa of stencil” in Italy where their current style consists of “stencil posters”; large scale wheat pasted portraits that they hand-cut intricate patterns onto. They usually use portraits of strangers, however this piece was of a friend’s brother who had taken his own life.  They will return in September for round two.

Sten & Lex, Foligno, Italy. (photo © Federica Tega)

Sten & Lex, Foligno, Italy. (photo © Federica Tega)

Nanook.  Fairly new to the street art scene (painting large scale for a year or so), he has left his studio that he used to share with “Gaia” back in Baltimore for new adventures in the old-world. He has been recording on paper his plan as he goes (from Berlin to Budapest and now Italy) “I feel so privileged to even be able to paint in this town, with all this history and the beautiful buildings”, he writes.

A calm and humble figure, he is constantly knocking out new sketches, whether using black ink or espresso in his black notebook, leaving no time for siestas. His hunger to learn is energizing; “I would just love to work and learn from an old master like they have here in Italy”.

As his style evolves playing by with realism, abstract lines and shapes, it will be very interesting to see how this young artist grows. In this piece he incorporated the shape of Umbria, the region in which Foligno lies. Now he is a one-way ticket to Buenos Aires. Lets see what happens…

Nanook “Siesta Time”. Foligno, Italy. (photo © Rosanna Bach)

Nanook. Foligno, Italy. (photo © Rosanna Bach)

Argentine artist Ever creates the most political work out of the three.

It must be a challenge to try and explain yourself in a foreign language that; you are not actually a devoted worshipper of Mao Tse Tung but that you are in fact talking about human contradiction, how in times of crisis people always seem to be convinced that the opposite is the solution. For example, as a result of the current decline of the capitalist system, many are swaying towards the left side of the political spectrum. “We are looking outward into one room. But why don’t we go to another room to find new solutions?” asks Ever.

Ever. Foligno, Italy. (photo © Rosanna Bach)

Ever. Foligno, Italy. (photo © Rosanna Bach)

Paint bucket. Foligno, Italy. (photo © Rosanna Bach)

Nanook, Ever. Foligno, Italy. (photo © Rosanna Bach)

As passers stopped to comment, Nanook looks frazzled and Ever lets them ramble on for minutes without a clue what they are talking about. “Si si bene bene grazie, bon journi!” he’d reply to them and they’d be on their way.

The language barrier doesn’t seem to faze this one character though. He is here to stay with his beloved Hurdi Gurdi. “We make artistic exchange!” he cries.

The Hurdi Gurdi. Foligno, Italy. (photo © Rosanna Bach)

Nanook, Ever. Foligno, Italy. (photo © Rosanna Bach)

Once the 3 x 5 meter mural was finished I was expecting some sort of a scream of joy or something like that, but Ever just said: “I am always dissatisfied with a wall when I finish it. I never like it at first.”

We go from a scorching roadside in Foligno to “Le Mur” beside a trendy café in Montmartre, Paris. One of the few legal walls in Paris – it is a billboard-style space that a new artist is invited to paint every two weeks. “It is really hard to paint here in Paris, especially big walls,” Ever explains.

Paris. The place where Ever has spent the last 2 months, and where he lived for a while back in 2010. Paris was the turning point for him; he began to inject politics into his art. “Paris is a political place for me”.

Ever. Le Mur. Paris (photo © Rosanna Bach)

Ever. “Free Tibet” Detail. Le Mur. Paris (photo © Rosanna Bach)

After just one night the wall was tagged and “Free Tibet” stickers had been stuck on the soldiers’ suits. “No, no this is good, this is France, it’s a good thing when the people react. We leave them on. This is like a conversation with the people.”

Ever. “Free Tibet”. Le Mur. Paris (photo © Rosanna Bach)

A lady who must have been about 80 years old appeared on day one, and whipped out a huge DSLR camera from her purse. She returned there everyday since. She even brought photographs she had taken of the process and took the time to hand write the date and place on each photograph.

Ever. “Free Tibet” Le Mur. Paris (photo © Rosanna Bach)

Ever. “Free Tibet” Le Mur. Paris (photo © Rosanna Bach)

“Why are you guys doing this?!” An agitated pedestrian asked me hastily. Once I explained that concept to him he replied, reassured; “Oh I see, it’s meant to be provocative.”

Ever. “Free Tibet”. Le Mur. Paris (photo © Rosanna Bach)

From what I understand, after listening to countless conversations about street art, these artists are really looking for long term investors for their work, not just fast money. They’re resisting becoming a passing phase only to be dropped like a hot potato after this street art wave dies down. Fame seems to be irrelevant – but if it is a by-product then so be it. “I don’t like business, I just want to paint”, Ever says.

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Many thanks to Rosanna Bach for her diligence, passion and her talents.

http://rosannabach.tumblr.com/

http://openwallsbaltimore.com/

http://associazioneattack.wordpress.com/

http://eversiempre.com/

http://stenlex.net/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nanookart

http://lemur.asso.fr/

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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!

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Sten & Lex in Paris For Le M.U.R.

Sten & Lex in Paris For Le M.U.R.

July 23, 2012 , , ,

Le M.U.R. is a Parisian program of liberating billboards that since 2003 has been formally inviting artists to takeover spaces that would normally be filled with advertisements. So far this year they’ve had artists including Kid Acne and Vhils, with Ever and Astro coming up shortly. This month the Italian Street Art duo Sten & Lex were invited to install one of their distinctive sideways anonymous “stencil posters” in Paris for the Le M.U.R. program. As is true with much of their work, you may not recognize that this is a portrait of a woman unless you stand a back at a distance and change the perspective you are viewing it with.

Today we are pleased to introduce Victor Hugo Celaya, the man behind ARTO (Art Beyond Museums) and a resident of Mexico City, who was on hand to interview Sten & Lex about their piece. With Victor acting as our correspondent, our posting today is an exclusive collaborative feature just for you from ARTO and BSA.

Interview with Sten & Lex

Victor Hugo Celaya: What does creating work for such iconic program as Le M.U.R. mean to you?
Sten & Lex: Le M.U.R. was a very interesting project for us from the beginning because we had heard of it since 2003. In Paris it is almost an institution and also it’s the first time Italians intervene Le M.U.R.

Sten & Lex (photo © Victor Hugo Celaya)

Victor Hugo Celaya: The piece that you selected for Le M.U.R. — the image of a woman — does it have any special meaning?
Sten & Lex: No it doesn’t, it’s just an anonymous portrait of a woman. The portraits we usually do are of strangers. We usually chose the portrait of someone who looks like the people from the country where we do the work. On this occasion, this woman looks French but she isn’t. It’s an anonymous portrait of a serious person, which is in line with all the work we’ve been doing in the last few years.

Victor Hugo Celaya: Do you have a specific message you want to communicate through these anonymous portraits?
Sten & Lex: No, it’s a counter proposal to urban art that has taken on a more social and political nature lately. Hence, we prefer to do something on the side. We’ve never enjoyed doing pieces with specific messages; our work is the portraits. They don’t have any message, people see the portraits and they can have their own ideas about them and people have very different ideas.

Sten & Lex (photo © Victor Hugo Celaya)

 

Victor Hugo Celaya: You mentioned something important about the way artists use street art to convey social messages. Why do you not use it for that purpose? In general, how do you see urban art today and where is it going?
Sten & Lex: What interests me about urban art now is this contamination with contemporary art; our work has always been involved with art in general. There are no common messages in street art and there are no common techniques… Stencil is very common in street art but the way that we work is very different, it’s a technical study. In street art, we like not only the artists who work thinking about urban art as a stencil with a political message, but also as an installation or something figurative, abstract art. I find a lot of sense in street art at the moment.

Victor Hugo Celaya: Is there someone in the movement you admire?
Sten & Lex: Yes, for example, our work is greatly influenced by the way JR uses posters, the way he covers entire architectural pieces. This aspect of JR’s work has influenced us a lot. There are many things that have influenced us but not necessarily in the realm of street art. Our work is very subjective, the fact that we destroy the stencils and paste the posters is unique — that’s why we call it stencil poster. We paste a paper poster on the wall and then cut it. This was a subjective study we did together.

Sten & Lex (photo © Victor Hugo Celaya)

 

Victor Hugo Celaya: Okay, lastly, urban art by nature is on the streets. We specifically think of it as giving art back to the people. Is there anything of that sentiment in your work? What do you think of the statement “art to the people”? Do you think it’s something that goes along with your job?
Sten & Lex: It is a reality that street art belongs to the people, but I don’t think it’s easy to understand what people really like. That’s why we don’t really care what people think of our work.

In urban art there are two important aspects: the first one is that anyone can see your work and the second one is that it is closely related to institutional art, that’s the point of view of art critics, since in street art they don’t really exist. However, what does exist is an audience that decides who the best artists of the moment are. Nowadays, this critique is generated over the Internet, in the most important blogs that manage to create great media attention.

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To learn more about the ARTO mission and philosophy click here.

To learn more about L’association Le M.U.R. click here

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LUDO, Playmates, and Beesties in Paris

July 17, 2012 , ,

Street Artist LUDO shows his active imagination is in full force with these new billboard takeovers in Paris that blend unusual themes with his ongoing fascination for insects and technology.

First are the insect playboys, appearing to merge a porno sensibility and animation 3-D rendering with the natural world.  Since Summer is the season for insect love in the park perhaps the gentlemen bugs mind turns to centerfolds and multi-legged playmating?

LUDO (photo © LUDO)

LUDO (photo © LUDO)

The second installation, by way of tribute to the passing of rapper Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch is his nod to the 1986 Beastie Boys Album cover for “Licensed to Ill”. In LUDO’s version, the crashed plane is morphed into an insect chassis and rechristened “Beestie”.

LUDO (photo © LUDO)

LUDO (photo © LUDO)

LUDO (photo © LUDO)

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Shepard Fairey in Paris (VIDEO)

July 9, 2012 ,

“The way this mural came about is that I met C215 and he asked me if I would be coming to Paris and if so would I like to do a big wall,” says Shepard Fairey as he stands on a ledge overlooking Paris in this new video interview with Butterfly. As the Street Art world continues to evolve and transform into a number of directions, it’s good to check in with one of the first major names to rise from the modern movement.

Still from video interview with Shepard Fairey

Here in Paris he is more concentrated on the grand scale mural that garners thousands of eyes rather than the hand slapped sticker or quickly wheat-pasted poster. But as ever, he is enthusiastic about the basic tenets of Street art that first led him to get outside. “What I think is exciting is that there is a new wave of art affecting people. It’s not just the traditional (art) in the galleries.”

Still from video interview with Shepard Fairey

Still from video interview with Shepard Fairey

Still from video interview with Shepard Fairey

Still from video interview with Shepard Fairey

Still from video interview with Shepard Fairey

Shepard Fairey Obey – Rise Above Rebel – Paris, juin 2012 – 93 av Jeanne d’Arc 13e
Réal : Mahmoud Belakhel
Image : Mahmoud Belakhel – Matthieu Soudet – Romain Paget – Julien Hogert – Jonathan Ricquebourg – Rebecca Topakian
Photographie : Matthieu Soudet – Romain Paget
Son : Pierre Bézard
Montage – Etalonnage : Ingrid Zeller
Interview : Butterfly
Traduction : Laura Fernandes – Butterfly
Musique : Moby : “Aerial”, “All is perfect”, “Gimme some”, “Flying foxes”
Remerciement : Maïa et Marouène – Valentine Poutignat – Julien Soudet – Felipe Quintelas – Fabio Caldironi
Galerie Itinérrance
Mairie du 13eme arrondissement
Butterfly

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Galerie Magda Danysz Presents: Vhils Solo Show (Paris, France)

May 22, 2012 , , , , ,

Vhils

Vhils. Miami 2011. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Vhils Solo Show Paris

From 23 June, 2012 to 28 July, 2012
Opening 23 June, 2012 from 6pm to 9pm

Galerie Magda Danysz – 78, rue Amelot Paris 11

Born in Portugal in 1987, VHILS travels all over the globe to create his monumental works. He was singled out in 2008 by Banksy who invited him to the Cans Festival in London. The art critic Tristan Manco shared at the time « here he is one of the finest examples of world street art from these past few years.” In 2010, he took part to the Sao Paulo Biennial as well as the Fame Festival in Italy and made a huge portrait in collaboration with JR in the center of Los Angeles.

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Open Walls: Itenerant Street Gallery. (Paris, France)

May 21, 2012 , , , , ,

Open Walls
Open Walls

 

OPEN WALLS EN RESIDENCE A PARIS

OPEN WALLS s’installe à Belleville du jeudi 24 mai au mercredi 6 juin 2012 et décrète PARIS ZONE LIBRE pour une exposition et une série d’interventions urbaines qui réunira 5 artistes majeurs de la scène berlinoise, présentés pour la première fois à Paris.

BR1, SP38, ALIAS, VERMIBUS & TONA, 5 artistes authentiques et radicaux, légitimés par la rue, armés pour réveiller la capitale française.

BR1 (Décollage & Peinture)

Dans la lignée des affichistes du siècle dernier, cet artiste italien créée des affiches uniques, peintes à l’aide de couleurs vives et découpées à la main, représentant des femmes voilées dans leur quotidien de femmes. Il colle ensuite ses peintures dans les rues des grandes métropoles occidentales. Son emplacement de prédilection: les panneaux d’affichages publicitaires de grande taille.

En représentant des femmes voilées en mère de famille, en copines qui s’amusent, en activistes du printemps arabe ou bien simplement dans des scènes banales de la vie quotidienne, son oeuvre est un outil de transmission de messages sociaux et de prise de conscience entre les différents groupes humains. La démarche de l’artiste se veut donc sociale.

SP38 (Sérigraphie & Peinture)

Après la chute du mur de Berlin en 1989, la capitale allemande est devenue le refuge privilégié des artistes alternatifs et radicaux. SP38 s’y est exilé au début des années 90 et n’a depuis cessé de contribuer quotidiennement au développement du Street Art à Berlin.

Au fil des années, la ville s’est embourgeoisée mais le peintre s’y sent toujours à l’aise. Ses affiches clament des slogans ironiques tels que “Esacpe”, “Vive la bourgeoisie” , “I Don’t Wanna Be U’re Friend on Face-Book” ou plus récemment “Vive La crise”. Sa typographie unique, rouge sang, a fait le tour du monde. Il sera en Mai pour quelques semaines à Belleville.

ALIAS (Pochoir)

Figure emblématique du street art en Allemagne, anonyme et discret, son oeuvre est omniprésente dans les rues berlinoises depuis 10 ans et l’on reconnaît immédiatement son style. Alias travaille minutieusement chacun de ses pochoirs et soigne particulièrement la découpe. Sobre, il aime jouer sur les ombres et les reliefs, il utilise un éventail de couleurs réduit. Ses pochoirs représentent principalement des enfants et questionnent l’avenir de notre société.

Très attaché à son travail dans la rue, il a longuement hésité à travailler en galerie, un pochoir sur toile ce n’est pas très intéressant. L’artiste a donc décidé d’amener la rue dans la galerie et il attache un soin particulier au choix de ses supports. Chaque pièce, unique, est réalisée exclusivement à partir de matériaux trouvés dans la rue la nuit lorsqu’il travaille. Il affectionne particulièrement le bois et le métal.

VERMIBUS (Détournement Publicitaire, Peinture à l’Acide)

L’oeuvre de VERMIBUS commence et se termine dans la rue, qui joue un rôle essentiel dans la démarche de l’artiste. Né aux Baléares, cet artiste espagnol fait partie de la dernière génération d’exilés à Berlin. Il y collecte les affiches publicitaires dans le métro et les utilise ensuite comme matériau de base. Le processus de transformation commence dans son atelier: utilisant des dissolvants à base d’acide il efface les visages et la chair des modèles apparaissant sur les affiches ainsi que les logos des marques. Une fois la transformation achevée, il réintroduit ces affiches dans leur contexte d’origine et transgresse l’espace publicitaire.

Le catalogue de l’exposition est constitué d’une vingtaine d’oeuvres originales.

PARIS ZONE LIBRE
Vernissage Jeudi 24 mai à partir de 19h en présence des artistes.
Grolsch, fidèle à son engagement dans l’art, soutiendra cet évènement.

Espace “Frichez-nous la Paix” 22 bis rue Dénoyez, 75020 Paris. Métro: Belleville
Ouverture continue tous les après-midi du du Jeudi 24 mai au mercredi 6 juin 2012.
Accès libre.

Pour plus d’informations sur la galerie et nos artistes: http://www.openwallsgallery.com

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Springtime in Paris : Une Petite Revue of New Street Art

May 2, 2012 , , ,

Cities in all the hemispheres take turns being the pre-eminent location for Street Art and street culture as the influences that lead to a lively scene cropping up in a city and becoming popular are in continual flux. Whether its economics, demographics, politics, or the various timelines of cultural evolution intersecting, the conditions must be just right for a Street Art scene to blossom and endure in all it’s idiosyncratic splendor.  At the moment it is Springtime in Paris and photographer Sandra Hoj says during her visit to the city, “I was overwhelmed by the amount of street art. It was not just limited to a single area, but all over the place, in every crack and corner.”

Speedy Graphito (photo © Sandra Hoj)

While the current Street Art movement in French cities can be traced to the late 1970s  and early 80s stencillists with names like Jef Aerosol, Mis Tic, Speedy Graphito, and the guy who Banksy credits for influencing his rodential proclivities, Blek Le Rat – the last decade has brought a new generation of wheat-pasters, pop appropriaters, culture jammers, and fine artists of every discipline who have put their own mark on the modern age. Some, like C215, are even called new masters of the stencil genre. This quick survey gives just a taste of what’s happening at the moment and there are many names regularly up in addition to these.

Sandra reports “There are pieces from the ever-present Space Invader, of course, and Jef Aerosol, Nick Walker, Jand & JS (Janaundjs), Fred le Chavalier, and Dast, as well as some I don’t know the names of. There is a lot of stencil work and many paste up’s, a rare freehand piece by Dast, and even some collage work from Frank Duval of FKDL.” Enjoy.

Jef Aerosol (photo © Sandra Hoj)

Jef Aerosol (photo © Sandra Hoj)

Fred le Chevalier (photo © Sandra Hoj)

Fred le Chevalier (photo © Sandra Hoj)

Nick Walker (photo © Sandra Hoj)

Nick Walker (photo © Sandra Hoj)

FKDL (photo © Sandra Hoj)

Dast (photo © Sandra Hoj)

David Shillinglaw and Ben Slow (photo © Sandra Hoj)

David Shillinglaw and Ben Slow (photo © Sandra Hoj)

Pole Ka (photo © Sandra Hoj)

Pole Ka (photo © Sandra Hoj)

Jana & JS (photo © Sandra Hoj)

Jana & JS (photo © Sandra Hoj)

Jana & JS (photo © Sandra Hoj)

Jana & JS (photo © Sandra Hoj)

Jana & JS (photo © Sandra Hoj)

Jana & JS (photo © Sandra Hoj)

Click here to visit Sandra Hoj’s site Classic Copenhagen for more Street Art eye candy.

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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!

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Addict Galerie Presents: John CRASH Matos “Study in Watercolors” (Paris, France)

March 27, 2012 , , , , ,

Crash

Laetitia Hecht & ADDICT Galerie présentent :
John CRASH Matos – “Study in Watercolors”

14.04.2012 – 02.06.2012

Vernissage le Samedi 14 Avril 2012, 18:00 – 21:00

Opening on Saturday, 14th of April 2012, 6 – 9 pm

Doit-on encore présenter John CRASH Matos, ce pionnier du Street Art, né dans le Bronx en 1961, qui entreprend, à l’âge de 13 ans, de populariser son blaze de graffeur sur les trains de New York ?

ADDICT Galerie le propose pour la quatrième fois, tant passionne le travail de cet artiste qui, pour ne pas se laisser enfermer dans le graffiti, s’exprimera sur la toile dès 1978. Cette audace lui a permis de rendre ses lettres de noblesse artistiques au Street Art dès sa première grande exposition, “Graffiti Art Success”. Pour la première fois, l’Art urbain y était pris au sérieux aussi bien par le public que par la critique.

En passant des trains aux cimaises, CRASH a pu alors commencer à côtoyer les plus grands (Jean-Michel Basquiat et Keith Haring à la galerie Real Art Ways) et donner naissance au post-graffiti.

Depuis, du Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris au MoMA de New York ou au Groningen Museum aux Pays-Bas, CRASH ne cesse d’afficher avec brio ses innovations. Il a appris à se renouveler tout en restant fidèle à ses options par une recherche incessante de la concision et de la synthèse. Son style ne cesse d’évoluer vers la simplification essentielle, le dépouillement éclatant. Pour lui, se renouveler, c’est approfondir en évacuant de ses toiles le superflu, les fioritures qui obscurcissent le sens, telle la démarche faussement simplificatrice d’un Matisse.

Preuve de leur singularité et de leur puissance, les œuvres de CRASH sont ainsi identifiables au premier coup d’œil.

Avec “Study in Watercolors”, ADDICT Galerie propose une sélection d’études préparatoires fraîchement réalisées par John CRASH Matos. Jusqu’ici peu montrées en France, ces aquarelles éclairent les dernières avancées du travail de l’artiste.

Bien au-delà de l’esquisse préparatoire, de l’essai inaccompli, ces œuvres révèlent l’aisance avec laquelle CRASH synthétise avec une rare acuité la culture urbaine et la culture pop. Comics, mangas, hip-hop, science-fiction, produits télévisés, graphisme, ce déferlement désordonné d’images charriées par notre société, CRASH le condense en une expression picturale organisée selon le principe du sampling.

Les potentialités plastiques propres à l’aquarelle permettent à CRASH de composer de subtiles nuances chromatiques éblouissantes de lumière. De manière audacieuse, l’artiste inscrit dans des cadrages resserrés bribes de lettres et fragments de visages sans que l’œil, chaque fois, n’abandonne sa présence obsédante, signe complice à Roy Lichtenstein. Mais, dans son cas, le petit format n’est pas enfermement, il invite au contraire à saisir la dynamique des lignes entravées qui se projettent avec force hors du cadre.

Le nombre d’œuvres exposées montrent, s’il en était besoin, que CRASH n’a en rien perdu de sa fureur de peindre depuis près de 40 ans. La technique de l’aquarelle lui permet d’exprimer, dans une sorte d’urgence, toute son énergie créatrice.

Avec cette exposition consacrée à CRASH du 14 avril au 2 juin 2012, ADDICT Galerie, met en lumière l’ébauche, le travail préparatoire du graffiti, aspect trop souvent relégué au second plan d’un mode d’expression parfois assimilé à un jaillissement spontané de l’imagination de l’artiste. La reconnaissance du Street Art passe aussi par ce retour aux sources.

Visuels et informations disponibles sur demande
Images and informations available upon request
Contact : +33 (0)1 48 87 05 04 / info@addictgalerie.com

ADDICT Galerie – Laetitia Hecht
14/16 rue de Thorigny 75003 Paris
T:+33(0)1 48 87 05 04
Horaires d’ouverture / Opening hours
Mardi – Samedi 11:00 – 19:00 et sur rendez-vous
Tuesday – Saturday 11am – 7pm and by appointment
info@addictgalerie.com
www.addictgalerie.com

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