Archive for the ‘street art’ Category
Paris: Graffiti at the Fondation Cartier – and beyond
Bombe alert?
[français en bas]
IF THE MERE SIGHT sight of graffiti makes you want to reach for the bleach, Né dans la rue / Born in the Streets Graffiti is not for you.
Or there again, perhaps it is. The downside is that when you leave the Fondation Cartier, you’ll start noticing graffiti just about everywhere you turn. On the upside, you’ll be seeing it with new eyes.
From Washington Heights to the pixadore bands of São Paulo, the exhibition ranges wide. Tags get the digital treatment; watching them unfold is unexpectedly mesmerising.
Alongside documentaries and large scale contemporary work from JonOne, Nug and others, the exhibition goes a long way towards capturing the edgy spirit of a bankrupt 1970s New York where it all first took off. Video interviews with pioneer taggers, like Pistol1, give insight into the sheer buzz felt by alienated teenagers when they reclaimed the city with five-foot-high letters for everyone to see: ”It was like being a celebrity, man. We were doing it in New York City...”
If you go, allow plenty of time to admire local graffiti artists letting rip on the boards outside. And to soak up the contrast as bon chic bon genre gallery-goers queue up for enlightenment.
LOVE IT OR HATE IT, graffiti is becoming mainstream. Last year, the Grand Palais hosted a show on the subject, and only this month, the SNCF (France’s national train service) commissioned artists to tart up one of their trains.
No trains, no ticket
But the tolerance is measured.
Over in the east of Paris, a group of local graffiti artists (pictured, right) told me they risked a 75 euro fine for customising the walls beside the Petite Ceinture, the disused railway that partly encircles the city. Generally, though, the authorities turn a blind eye.
Just as well for some, considering that a “masterpiece” can involve up to 8 colours, at a cost of 3 euros per aerosol can…
- Fondation Cartier: Born in the Street: Graffiti … until 29th November ’09
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Live à la la Fondation Cartier
VOUS AVEZ HORREUR du graffiti? Décidément, la dernière expo à la Fondation Cartier “Né dans la rue: Graffiti“ n’est pas pour vous. A moins que vous soyez prêt à prendre le risque de ne plus jamais voir le graffiti sous la même lumière qu’auparavant.
Pour ceux qui ont besoin de repères, il vaut mieux descendre tout de suite au sous-sol. Là, vous pourrez suivre la genèse du mouvement à New York pendant les années 70. L’expo évoque une ville au bord de la faillite en train de se vider en faveur des banlieues. Vous entendrez des paroles de pionniers du graffiti, comme Pistol1, qui revit son euphorie. Pour un jeune qui se sent exclu de sa ville, rien de plus exhaltant que de signer son nom avec des lettres gigantesques et en trois dimensions:
“C’était comme si on était des célébrités, man. On faisait ça, nous, à New York City…”
Et aujourd’hui? L’époque contemporaine est représentée par des documentaires – sur les “pixadores” de São Paulo, par exemple – et par des grosses commandes exécutées par JonOne, Nug et d’autres lumières. Grâce à une analyse numérique qui retracent les gestes des taggeurs, des dizaines de tags se révèlent dans toute leur complexité.
Et si, enfin, vous n’avez pas envie d’entrer, restez devant les palissades pour regarder les jeunes artistes en pleine création… et savourez le contraste avec des visiteurs BCBG qui font la queue pour découvrir ce nouvel univers.
QU’IL SOIT adoré ou déploré, le graffiti devient le plat du jour. L’an dernier, le Grand Palais a accueilli une expo sur le sujet. Plus récemment, c’était au tour de la SNCF à décorer un TGV. Mais la tolérance a ses limites.
Dans le 20e sur la Petite Ceinture désaffectée, les jeunes artistes m’ont dit qu’ils risquaient une amende de plus de 75 euros. C’est pas de pot après avoir investi dans 8 bombes à 3 euros chaque.
bientôt au Grand Palais...
Paris: Urban art/art urbain on show in the 20th
©Gérard Faure
[English below]
JÉRÔME Mesnager,Némo, Mosko et Associés…
Ils se connaissent bien, ils connaissent bien le quartier. Mais c’est peut-être la première fois que ces quatre artistes urbains collaborent dans un espace aussi chi-chi: le pavillon Carré de Baudouin (20e arr.), ancienne “folie” du dix-huitième siècle.
Avant l’ouverture, une foule d’écoliers – les pochoiristes de demain – sont venus renifler la bombe et regarder Némo et compagnie en train de customiser ce mur le long de la rue de Ménilmontant. À l’intérieur, l’expo réunit des oeuvres d’hier et d’aujourd’hui, dont un vaste dernier jugement de bonhommes blancs marque un nouveau départ pour Mesnager. Le photographe, Gérard Faure évoque des murales maintenant démolies ou effacées (car l’art urbain, c’est surtout l’éphémère), et il y a également une série de beaux courts-métrages consacrés aux “muralistes” et leur public.
Vous préférez plutôt apprécier les murales in situ? Ça tombe bien, car la Mairie du 20e a préparé un parcours d’art urbain du quartier (télécharger ici). Pour faire l’ensemble, compter une demi-journée.
PS : Décidément Jérôme Mesnager est « flavour of the month »: regarder cet article dans Sub-Yu
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CALL IT serendipity. Hot on the heels of the graffiti exhibition at the Grand Palais, a new exhibition on Paris street art opens tomorrow in the 20th arrondissement.
Art Urbain, at the Pavillon Carré de Baudouin brings together four Parisian street art veterans: Jérôme Mesnager, Nemo and the zoophile duo known as Mosko et Associés.
Nemo. Now you see him...
Earlier in the week, crowds of local school kids had turned out to sniff wayward aerosol fumes and watch the artists go to work on a new mural along this busy street.
Inside, a sneak preview of the exhibition revealed both old and new, previously unseen works, including a whopping 7-metre-long Last Judgement from Mesnager, he of the muscular ”bonhommes blancs”.
Gérard Faure’s personal photo archive captures many images long since swept away in rubble, while a series of short films (in French, but evocative stuff) reveals more about the artists and how they’ve captured the popular imagination.
Not least, round here. Uptown Ménilmontant is one the last few outposts of working class Paris, and Mesnager and company have been on the scene for years. Handy, then, that the Mairie du 20e has now published an urban art map, taking the exhibition back into the street where it belongs. Pick your copy up at the exhibition, or download it here.
- L’Art Urbain at the Pavillon Carré du Baudouin (119-121 rue de Ménilmontant, a 5 min walk from Metro Gambetta) from 15 May until 29 Aug. Admission free.
- Read my article on Paris street artists here.
Related posts: Parisienne Femme Capitale, Street Art Smart
Anyone seen Speedy?
Paris: Parisienne Femme Capitale
JE JOUE OUI
She’s back, the queen of aerosol can and the spiky epigram.
Urban artist Miss-Tic’s latest show opens this week at Galery W in Montmartre, and she’ll be gracing the space on the 16th November, from 3.30pm, to sign her new book.
Mlle. Tic does rather a lot of that sort of thing. She considers herself more writer than artist, styling herself a femme de l’être, I mean, femme de lettres, that is to say, both…. Well, anyway, you get the idea.
Check out Miss-Tic’s oeuvre here.
Paris: Street Art-Smart
Walls no longer have ears – or if they do, they’re far too busy sounding off to use them. Street art used to be confined to the un-touristy fringes of Paris, condemned buildings, les quartiers populaires… Now, it seems you can hardly turn a corner without stumbling on some cryptic phenomenon or other.
And they don’t come much more ubiquitous than these alien critters. They’re the work of Space Invader (say invadeur, I guess, because he’s French), a graffiti artist devoted to the wildly infuriating ‘80s arcade game of the same name. Monsieur Invader uses heavy duty cement to fix his mosaics to the wall; that means that, unlike many urban interventions, his are here to stay. His declared mission is to conquer the planet. Eight years into his campaign, you could say he has made serious inroads. At the last count, he had “invaded” 38 cities, including London. Paris, of course, is right on the front line, with a score of 15,120.
You’ll have to be quick to follow the paper trail left by Plan A Plan B (see example, right, in the Marais). This collective of graphic designers, journalists and “trendsetteurs” also have designs on the planet but, in the crazy, cooky world of street art, nothing is quite what it seems.
Plan A Plan B’s agenda is off-the-beaten-track travel. Their website, I discover, is a window on trekking in the Amazon and scuba diving off Venezuela. There’s even a piece on hidden Montmartre – though you’ll need to check into the artsy Hôtel Particulier Montmartre, at 400 euros a pop, to savour the full experience. Not exactly agitprop, but I predict team members will go far.
For those feeling nostalgic for the first generation muralists, there are still lots of great examples to be seen around town. I get a special buzz out of the collaborations – like this one, between painter, Jérôme Mesnager and Mosko et Associés in 
Ménilmontant (20e). And I’ve a particular soft spot for Miss-Tic, who spent more than 20 years stencilling her spiky, lippy alter ego free for all to see, before gallery owners clasped street art to their bosoms. Yet seeing her wild women tamed in Montmartre’s Espace W, I feel utterly unmoved. Take the “art” out of the street art if you must. But take the “street” out at your peril…
