All posts tagged: Alexis Masurelle

Alexis Masurelle and a Bombed Train in Paris : 14 From 2014

Alexis Masurelle and a Bombed Train in Paris : 14 From 2014

December 28, 2014
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Happy Holidays to all of you charming and sparkling BSA readers!
It’s been a raucous sleigh ride with you and we thank everyone most sincerely for your support and participation this year. A sort of tradition for us at the end of this December we are marking the year with “14 from 2014”. We asked photographers and curators from various perspectives of street culture to share a gem with all of us that means something to them. Join us as we collectively say goodbye and thank you to ’14.
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Urban explorer and Street Art photographer Alexis Masurelle caught our eye this year with his style that doesn’t heroicize, but poetically documents the underbelly, the decay, the left traces of our human folly and industry. We didn’t know what to think when we first saw his image from 2014 of a train bombed (in both senses of the word) but then we realized that it is a perfect marriage of his styles and interests in some way. The icon of a train painted (or bombed) is burned into the minds of generations of graffiti writers thanks to images of NYC trains from the 1970s and 80s, but because of an act of terrorism, this particular train has a far sadder memory in the minds of many Parisians.

“This image was shot in a train depot in September this year, nineteen years after it was bombed in Paris. The practice of street art is for most players an illegal activity punished by law. For graffiti artists the train is one of the most sought after, often guarded and difficult to access.

This historic RER (Réseau Express Régional (regional express train)) was the subject of an attack at the Saint Michel station. The historical significance is mainly owed ​​to the fact that this train is the trace – the proof – of this. Besides being a vestige of history, this model is nearly no longer in circulation, and so it is rare to see one.”

~ Alexis Masurelle

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“Terrorism”. Train Depot, Vitry-sur-Seine, France. September 2014. (photo © Alexis Masurelle)

 

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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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Could We Kill a Panda The Same Way We Kill a Bull? Michael Beerens in Paris

Could We Kill a Panda The Same Way We Kill a Bull? Michael Beerens in Paris

October 18, 2014

The Bullfight! The historic tradition! The glorious danger of a confused and raging bull ready to charge at his tormentor. The bulging manhood of the Matador as he proudly steps around the coliseum in his ornate and regal costumery!

And now ladies and gentlemen, the Pandafight! Watch as the athletic and handsome slayer taunts the raging Panda with a red flag and runs quickly away! See how he stabs with colorful blades into the panda’s back, thrusting his sword between the shoulder blades!

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Michael Beerens. Paris, France. Oct 2014. (photo © Alexis Masurelle)

On a wall in Paris’ Chinatown (Belleville) Street Artist Michael Beerens re-imagines the national animal of China standing in the place of the traditional bull, ready to be killed slowly and publicly to entertain the assembled fans.

“I noticed that in the eyes of man, all animals do not have the same value,” says Bereens, who challenges an ingrained thought pattern that finds the cuddly cute photogenic ones more valuable in some cultures than others. “For example, crushing a spider is good but a ladybug is saved; rats are killed but we like squirrels and hamsters.”

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Michael Beerens. Paris, France. Oct 2014. (photo © Alexis Masurelle)

To complete this wall, which he says he did not have permission for, Bereens simply showed up to it with a lot of equipment and paint cans.  He says some people stopped to thank him for putting color on the walls, and others stopped to take photos of the wall, of him, of themselves in front of the wall.  “It’s a free exchange,” he says, “I try to convey a human message but I have nothing to sell except my ideas.  I’m not trying to sell Coca Cola,” he explains.

Which reminds of those white polar bears…

Let’s go to a Polar Bear Fight!!

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Michael Beerens. Paris, France. Oct 2014. (photo © Alexis Masurelle)

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Michael Beerens. Paris, France. Oct 2014. (photo © Alexis Masurelle)

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“The three ‘bandrilles’ that the panda has in his back represent the 3 countries where the bullfight is still practiced legally; France, Spain and Portugal,” says artist Michael Beerens. Paris, France. Oct 2014. (photo © Alexis Masurelle)

 

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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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