Sur Les Murs

Skates on - this closes in less than two weeks and it has anti-social opening hours in the Credit Mutuel building in rue des Francs Bourgeois, 3eme. It is literally a two minute walk from my house, yet I only managed to get around to it yesterday. Amazing how I don't have an hour or so to spare sometimes.

The issue with mounting an exhibition of Street Art is that you can't. By definition its meant to be in the street, where the walls, pavements, and street furniture are the gallery space or co-opted as part of the work. So what you end up with if you try to bring the whole thing indoors is smaller works on paper, wood, canvas by some of Paris' best known street artists of the last fifty years.

OK, if that is what has to be done for reasons of space, but it loses the grandeur of scale, the danger of executing the work and frankly the surprise of discovering a piece of art as you otherwise busy about the city.

That said, as survey and documentation, it's fine. If you want to match up the names and faces to work you might recognise, off you go. It's a small exhibit and it's free, so no excuse really.  Here you will find work by Blek Le Rat, Mesanger, Ox, Popay, Space Invader, Jeff Aeorsol and Mis, Tic, amongst others. But there's no theme or organising principle, it's a classic mixed or group show.

There's two reasonably priced books to acquire, so you can take things home on an even smaller scale, and a film of the installation of various works at Le Mur, which is a licensed, curated space on rue Oberkamp in the 11eme. With work that changes second Saturday, it's worth checking that out too.

Mandela Street Art - Paris

A timely work spotted this week in rue Denoyez, 20eme. It's rather wonderful and indeed Education is the power.

Street Art, Havana, Cuba

Havana is not Paris when it comes to street art. Almost anytime I can walk a circular route from my home in the 3eme and find superlative examples from some of the best artists working in the French capital today. Driving from the airport to Havana Vieja however, in a gold and tail-finned ’57 Chevy just by the by, I spotted nothing, nada.

There is a rash of officially approved propaganda posters, and wall paintings made by the local community with varying degrees of artistic skill, extolling the virtues of socialism and the revolution (study, work and take up arms), as one might expect, but nothing radical and independent. I had to look for it and look pretty hard. 

This is because, although I am told graffiti is not illegal in Cuba, the artist has to ask permission to make work, hence the community committee approved projects. After all, this is a country where the only advertising hoardings allowed are those expounding the necessity for continual revolution.

What I did find seemed to be imported; you don’t write ‘Hello Cuba’ if you are from here, right? Crews from Mexico, Brazil and Germany (Berlin and Hamburg) have been to Havana this year and last, helpfully signing and dating their work, which is restricted mainly to the hoardings around building works, with very little on walls and shop front shutters, let alone high up on buildings, although I did find one example of this. 

The work I found was amongst others by King Size and the One Up Crew, the UM24 Crew, Ed Rocha, PRC, GHS, RFZ and 403N15.  

Almost all of it is graffiti, meaning done freehand with spray paint. I only found two stencils very close together. There is very little tagging and no paste-ups that I observed. Stylistically it’s all in the hip-hop vein of things with some boldly ‘Ignorant’ lettering (or what I take to be such and wait to be corrected). 

Notable pieces are the Indian head on the corner of Brasil and Montserrate;  















and the hoardings across the street from it; the hoardings at the corner of Industria and Dragones; and something very political out of town near the University.  

On the side of a building at the corner of Universidad and Ave de los Presidentes is an Occupy related work noting all foundation dates of the world’s largest multi-nationals with a frightening figure eating the world, its body pinned down by ropes leading into a black sea labelled 99%.

Watch out for further photographic posts on more of the best bits.

Graffiti Project - Latest

It's been a while since I posted any street art pictures on here for the simple reason that there is just too much of it around in Paris. I'd be at it all day and I have a real job and a ton of writing to do.

So...in a idle moment in Reading yesterday, I spotted this in an alley off Station Road. It's rather good.

On Going Kaos.

Graffiti Latest

No sooner had the hoarding gone up on Cafe Hugo this week (Place des Vosges, 4eme) than the street artists were out and about.

In particular Monsieur Chat paid a visit with this rather super cat and roses image - powerful, simple lines

and he left another new cat  just around the corner.

Other things appearing in the very near vicinity this week included this helpful reminder (N.B. Syria, Israel, Palestine).

Graffiti Latest

Early graffiti by the prisoners in Chateau Vincennes -lit and preserved now for its historical importance.

How might current work be considered in three hundred years?

Graffiti Latest

New work by Konny Steding. Her gallery show is currently at Galerie Moretti & Moretti, 6, Cour Berard, Paris 75004 until early November.

I love this Sid Vicious portrait - it beings back memories of my youth.

Graffiti Latest

Variations on a squid

Graffiti Latest

From the Goutte d'Or in the 18eme (the other side of Montmatre):

 mother and child, twice

 and the front of the Theatre Lavois  Moderne 

(now under threat of closure, boo) 

painted by Sick Boy and others.

Graffiti Latest

Ghosts of Paris - Jerome Mesnager
 

from walls in the 5eme to Art Jingle in the 4eme - 

off the street into the gallery...

Alternative Paris - Street Art Tours

As part of Unstrung Letters' new season of events, on Wednesday night this week, we were treated to a short Street Art Tour in the 11eme from the guys who run Alternative Paris.

As readers of this blog will know, I am especially interested in all forms of street art and graffiti and have been photographing it all over the world for the last several years.  See above by Invader. So, a super evening as far as I was concerned and I learned a lot about styles and the artists. I am now seeing ignorant style everywhere.

If you are don't know what that is, but want to find out - take a tour. Check them out here: http://alternativeparis.org/ or follow on facebook.

Graffiti Project latest

From my summer holidays in Crete - a little bit of indignation, a little bit of hope in Heraklion.

Graffiti Latest

Always nice to see Sue Catwoman copies turning up in strange places so many years after the main event (rue Denoyez 20eme)

Presidential Election

Hollande it is then and thanks for the wonderful street party in Bastille last night. It was exciting to be in a crowd of genuinely ecstatic people, no hassles, no aggro, just smiles and cheers all round. We'll have to see if anything changes or whether this graffito that appeared everywhere in the last few weeks is right.

At least one person on Boulevard Beaumarchais is pleased to see the back of Sarkozy and has taught me a new word today, not sure when I'm going to be able to use it in polite company though.

Graffiti latest

With one eye on the Presidential run-off tomorrow, here are some alternative electoral choices from Rue Denoyez in the 20th.

Graffiti latest

Screaming Chimp by Bust in the 11th.

Graffiti project - latest

Blackboard and chalk seahorses, Rue de Vielle Temple in the third - gorgeous.

Graffiti Project - Latest

Fairytale made for a doorway in the 11th - pity about the tags - so crass.

Graffiti Latest

Stencil from a wall in Montparnasse - for David Bowie's birthday week

Graffiti Project - latest

A sheepish start to the new year - Rue Chemin Vert, Paris, 11eme.