All posts tagged: Le Mur

Spaik Brings Symbolic Eagle to Address Fear in Paris and Ibiza

August 10, 2016 Artists

Mexican modern folkloric muralist Spaik participated in the Bloop Festival in Ibiza during the month long proactive music festival that is now in its fifth year. With a general ethos that “Art is for Everybody”, Bloop invites a number of artists each year to create works all over this town that for two decades has gained the international reputation as a party place with superstar djs, natural beauty, and sun-soaked hedonism.

Spaik at work on “Nochixtlan” for Le Mur. Paris, France. July 2016. (photo © Pierre Lecaroz)

So it is interesting that this year’s theme is “No Fear”, and the festivals’ manifesto points to cross-cultural scourges of relentless cell phone addiction, job insecurity, and unrealistic body types portrayed in fashion advertising . Looks like the honeymoon for pleasure-seekers is over.

Spaik “Nochixtlan” for Le Mur. Paris, France. July 2016. (photo © Pierre Lecaroz)

Spaik interpreted the “No Fear” theme with the same symbol of a massive colorful eagle that he used the previous month at Le Mur in Paris. Known for its association on the Mexican flag perched on a cactus with a serpent in its mouth, here in Ibiza the eagle flies freely through a tunnel in this country that Mexico declared independence from in 1821.

Interestingly, Spaik depicts a slightly more political eagle in Paris at the famously curated wall with references to the PEN party, the state of Oaxaca, and a small little rat with a Mexican sash – looking rather fearful. So we are not sure if “No Fear” can extend around the world, as hopeful as the Bloop festival manifesto may be, but Spaik definitely has created two impressive works that would please many in the Mexican mural-making tradition that addresses social and political issues.

Spaik “Nochixtlan” for Le Mur. Paris, France. July 2016. (photo © Pierre Lecaroz)

Spaik at work on“Flying Eagle” for Bloop Festival. Ibiza, Spain. July 2016. (photo © Spaik)

No fear, bro. Spaik “Flying Eagle” for Bloop Festival. Ibiza, Spain. July 2016. (photo © Spaik)

We Love Paris In The Spring Time! New Shots of Street Art.

May 7, 2015 Artists

When Cole Porter wrote “I love Paris in the Springtime!” in 1953 he probably was thinking of showgirls and their suitors and the wickedness of the Montmartre dance halls in the 1890s, but when photographer Sandra Hoj was in Paris last week she was thinking of aerosol paintings and paste-ups, and her enthusiasm was equal or greater to Porters.

“Five full glorious days in one of my favorite cities,” she writes when talking about her excursions into the Paris Street Art scene, saying, “Noticing street art is a party, not a job. It’s time to dance.”

Now back in Copenhagen where she blogs and writes about infrastructure, urban planning, bike parking, and trees, Ms. Hoj happily shares her newest Paris findings with BSA readers, and we thank her for it!

“I miss Paris already,” she adds.

Vinie. Detail. Le Mur. Paris. France. May 2015. (photo © Sandra Hoj)

Vinie. Le Mur. Paris. France. May 2015. (photo © Sandra Hoj)

Big Ben. Paris. France. May 2015. (photo © Sandra Hoj)

Big Ben. Detail. Paris. France. May 2015. (photo © Sandra Hoj)

The Outings Project. Paris. France. May 2015. (photo © Sandra Hoj)

“The Outings Project; a cool participative art project, moving Renaissance museum art into the streets. It is spreading all over the world. I caught this one in Paris, before I even knew that it was part of something bigger,” says Sandra.

Zag et Sia. Paris. France. May 2015. (photo © Sandra Hoj)

Levalet. Detail. Paris. France. May 2015. (photo © Sandra Hoj)

Levalet. Paris. France. May 2015. (photo © Sandra Hoj)

K-Bal. Paris. France. May 2015. (photo © Sandra Hoj)

Jo Di Bona. Detail. Paris. France. May 2015. (photo © Sandra Hoj)

Jo Di Bona. Paris. France. May 2015. (photo © Sandra Hoj)

ThyM’arengo. Detail. Paris. France. May 2015. (photo © Sandra Hoj)

ThyM’arengo. Paris. France. May 2015. (photo © Sandra Hoj)

A few links about the artists from Sandra:

Jo Di Bona (https://instagram.com/jodibona/ and https://www.facebook.com/popgraffiti)

Vinie (http://www.viniegraffiti.com/)

Zag et Sia (https://fr-fr.facebook.com/ZaG47)

ThyM’arengo (https://www.facebook.com/thymarengo)

We wish to express our heartfelt gratitude to Sandra for sharing with us her findings in Paris. Make sure to visit Sandra’s blog called Classic Copenhagen

Avalon Jazz Band – I Love Paris

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

September 10, 2012 Artists, France, Italy, On the Street, Paris, Street Art Festival

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 15^th 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)

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)

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.

“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.”

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

July 23, 2012 Artists, Interview, On the Street, Paris

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.

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.

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.

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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