For the Graffitizm event in Mantes-La-Jolie, 50 km from Paris, the prolific French graffiti crew Da Mental Vaporz with Dran, Blo, Brusk, Kan and Jaw completed a 40 meters long mural featuring their signature “Exquisite Corpse”, full of vibrant colours and imaginary characters .
To close the loop on a year long project I have been following (covered here) British artist Nick Walker was in Paris for the release of the awaited TMA print, The Morning After, at the Opera Gallery.
Nearby luxury shop owners were shocked to discover people queuing, a first for French people and specially in the most prestigious district of Paris, at the corner of Place Vendome, home to Cartier. “What is going on, shall we call the police?”.
It was interesting to see the cultural differences, as some UK die hard fans crossed the Channel to sleep overnight in front of the gallery, while French people turned up later in the afternoon.
While wandering in Paris, Nick Walker also stopped by to put a stencil featuring a new female vandal character, admiring red paint on her Lauboutins boots. In broad daylight and in front of bemused passer-by.
Full set of pics by Butterfly here
When I met Mehdi from Galerie Itinerrance in Paris at the Mausolee exhibition, little did I know that we would be involved in an ambitious project with Shepard Fairey a few weeks later. Working jointly with the Mairie of 13th district and the local community on a project called Street Art 13, they help regenerate the area by providing big walls to talented artists. After seeing this massive 14 storey building, I joined the project and we agreed that it would be awesome to have an Obey mural in Paris. Luckily Shepard Fairey was not only interested, but also wanted to paint the wall instead of putting paste-ups. So exciting!!!
Shepard and the Obey Giant team are operating on a very tight schedule, in between the opening of the Levi’s Store in the Champs Elysees and the temperamental weather. So French artists Sowat and Kan from DMV crew, Mehdi and myself can’t resist joining in to help for the first layer of red.
Shepard begins his stencil process, and the woman’s face starts to take shape.
The mural design is taken from Obey’s artwork called Rise Above Rebel.
Shepard Fairey’s mural is located on 93 rue Jeanne d’Arc, 75013 Paris.
Metro: National
More pics from Butterfly added daily here
Here is a timelapse video by Mahmoud Belakhel
Last year I joined British artist Nick Walker on a special mission, as he wanted to develop his vandal series with a Paris focus. From accompanying him on Paris rooftops to get some inspiration, to following the different steps of the creative process, it’s been a very exciting journey and here are some behind the scene pics.
Full set of pics by Butterfly here
On June 23rd Nick Walker will be releasing The Morning After Paris print version, an edition of 150, available in person only at Opera Gallery Paris.
TMA Paris printer proof by the artist.
The Morning After Paris – Print release
23 June 2012 at 2 pm
Opera Gallery Paris
356 Rue Saint-Honoré 75001 Paris, France.
For those outside of Paris, there will be a lottery in place.
Please email info@theartofnickwalker.com with ‘TMA Paris Lottery’ in the subject line to participate. Winners will be contacted shortly after the release.
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