Category Archives: Toulouse

Toulouse: Subcultures @ Espace Croix Baragnon – Part II

May 25, 2016 butterfly

We continue our coverage (See Part I here) on the current exhibition ‘Subcultures’ in ‘L’espace Croix Baragnon’ in Toulouse curated by David Pujol featuring 10 established and emerging artists, with their influences and distinctive style on the local and international scene: Amandine Urruty, 100TAUR (covered), A4 Putevie (covered), Mathieu Bourrillon, Nicolas Delpech, Fräneck, Herbot, Kinder K, Arnaud Loumeau and Benjamin Stoop.

Pencil drawings by Mathieu Bourillon (b.1976) invite the viewers into the subconscious mind and our pulsions. Each artwork has its own narrative and invitation to dive into an enigmatic universe where black and white figures are floating surrounded by a magical landscape.

Also using pencils, Amandine Urruty (b.1982) depicts a monochrome surrealist universe mixing antique toys and medieval bestiaries, Dutch landscapes with Little Ponies and Muppet Show characters, a little bit of spicy sausages and slimy monsters.

Nicolas Delpech (b.1978) and Benjamin Stoop (b.1980) from the Atelier 2000 play with geometric shapes, letters, collage and patterns as well as light and neon installations to describe parallel universes.

Subcultures - Toulouse

Herbot (b.1968) aka Rene Apallec is a collage virtuoso, using his magic scissors and a juxtaposition of images to create a surrealist universe where his characters experience an unexpected twist.

Subcultures - Toulouse

View the full set of pics here

‘Subcultures’
Until 18 June 2016
Espace Croix-Baragnon
24 rue Croix-Baragnon
31000 Toulouse (FR)

Books, Marrakech, streets, Toulouse

Streets: Tracing Morocco with Hendrik ECB Beikirch

April 25, 2016 butterfly 1 Comment

We first encountered the work of German artist Hendrik Beikirch aka ECB last year in Toulouse where he completed a large scale monochrome portrait of a Maroccan woman for Mr Freeze Festival (covered).

Toulouse (FR) – Mr Freeze 2015

This was part of a series entitled ‘Tracing Morocco’, following an artistic residency at Jardin Rouge in collaboration with the Montresso Foundation, during which he created 22 portraits, paying tribute to those anonymous Moroccans craftsmen and women he met during his travels, emphasising these fascinating encounters through portraiture.

Many of these portraits were also painted as large scale murals in New York, Roma, Copenhagen, Oslo, Murmansk, Toulouse, Naestved, Paris etc.

Hendrick ECB Beikirch recently returned to Marrakech to reveal the different artworks and completed additional murals.

Jardin Rouge – Marrakech 2016

Unveiled for the Marrakech Biennale, the latest mural is an hommage to Aziz, a local Marrakchi builder working at Jardin Rouge, who coincidentally worked to repair this exact wall previously. The artwork can be seen across the Marrakech train station.

See some work in progress shots below.

Ecb_aziz_Marrakech_©Paul_Etard_15_HD (Custom)

View the full set of pics here

In parallel the Montresso Foundation released a book ‘Tracing Morocco’ illustrating the collection of Beikirch’s portraits of Moroccan men and women he immortalised by telling their story through their faces. The book is an edition 2 500 copies with 50 deluxe version, signed and numbered by the artist. To preorder a copy of the book, just drop an email to contact.jardinrouge@gmail.com

BOOK-_-tracing_morocco_cover_221015-592x800-1

Photos credit: Butterfly / Work in progress shots by Paul Etard / Jardin Rouge

Shows, Toulouse

Toulouse: Subcultures @ Espace Croix Baragnon – Part I

April 23, 2016 butterfly 2 Comments

The museum ‘L’espace Croix Baragnon’ in Toulouse is celebrating the underground cultural scene with a new exhibition called ‘Subcultures’. The city of Toulouse is the cradle of many renowned artists from Miss Van, Fafi, Reso, Tilt to dran, but the artistic scene is even more prolific, mixing popular cultures (rock music, punk, goth, hip hop, experimental … sci-fi, comics, movies, skateboarding, tattoo…) revisiting modern art movements (surrealism, Dadaism, pop art, poster-art…) as well as post-modern art forms (lowbrow, graffiti, street art,…)

Curator David Pujol has been observing the local underground culture for several years and presents ‘Subcultures’ featuring 10 established and emerging artists, with their influences and distinctive style on the local and international scene: Amandine Urruty, 100TAUR (covered), A4 Putevie (covered), Mathieu Bourrillon, Nicolas Delpech, Fräneck, Herbot, Kinder K, Arnaud Loumeau and Benjamin Stoop.

Although not listed in the official artists roster, enfant terrible dran (covered) makes several appearances with a brand new canvas and stickers and flyers throughout the exhibition space.

Subcultures - Toulouse

Huge crowds and artists turned out for the eagerly awaited opening including anonymous artist <++ (covered) who also made a live performance.

Subcultures - Toulouse

Through his drawings and sculptural installations, artivist artist A4Putevie (b.1980) illustrates the thirst for freedom within the urban environment, his thoughts and distress about the current politic affairs, war and surveillance society.

Subcultures - Toulouse

Inspired by nature, religious art, Japanese culture and mythology, 100TAUR (b.1982) explores the concept of imperfection, creating a universe populated by fantastic creatures, distorted hybrids humans and animals with a sacred touch. Anthropomorphic fishes are adorned with a golden aura, while his signature character ‘Slug’, symbol of resilience is omnipresent within his compositions.

Subcultures - Toulouse

Kinder K. (b.1984) oil paintings play with medieval imagery and religious iconography to question our faith in life. Her colourful compositions illustrate empowered female characters with an erotic touch, whether Lolitas dancing and being seduced by the devil, or a man-eater she-devil.

Subcultures - Toulouse

Fascinated by video games, Arnaud Loumeau (b.1978) draws kaleidoscopic shapes on paper. Using mathematical precision, patterns are repeated in a loop like in a computer and coloured with marker. Underground illustrator Franeck painted a mural inside the gallery space with a series of small black and white drawings featuring his signature humorous round shaped characters within architectural landscapes.

Subcultures - Toulouse

View the full set of pics here

Stay tuned for the rest of the coverage soon with our Part II

‘Subcultures’
Until 18 June 2016
Espace Croix-Baragnon
24 rue Croix-Baragnon
31000 Toulouse (FR)

Barcelona, Berlin, Bristol, Festival, Interviews/ Studio visits, London, Malaga, Paris, Shows, Street, streets, Toulouse, Uncategorized, Weston Super Mare

2015 Highlights

December 28, 2015 butterfly

As 2015 comes to an end, we look back at the highlights of this incredible artistic year across Europe. Click on the pics to view more info.

Solo Shows: Dran, Mark Jenkins, Antony Micallef, Cranio, Daniel Arsham, David Shillinglaw, Julian Opie, Brusk, Angela Lizon, Pixel Pancho, Lisa Wright, Vhils, Anj Smith, Remi Rough, 100Taur, Hisham Echafaki.

Murals and Festivals: Artists for Je suis Charlie in Paris, El Seed, Ron English and Meetings of Style in London, Urban Nation M7 in Berlin, Open Summer Festival in Toulouse, Bom.K for Moniker, MAUS Festival in Malaga.