Tag Archives: DMV

La Rochelle: Graff on Tour(s) with Lek & Sowat

June 18, 2018 butterfly 1 Comment

The Towers of La Rochelle, managed by the Centre des Monuments Nationaux (CMN), are currently presenting Graff on Tour(s) until 25 June 2018 with a focus on historical graffiti as well as artistic interventions by contemporary artists ( see our first preview here. Following a month residency, internationally renowned graffiti duo Lek & Sowat were given total freedom to create contemporary artistic installations in the Saint Nicolas Tower and the city of La Rochelle.

After having archived and documented graffiti on the national monuments as traces of history and archeology for decades, and referenced graffiti on thirty historical monuments, the CMN is dedicating its 2018 cultural season on historical graffiti with a series of exhibitions and events called “Sur les murs, histoire(s) de graffiti“ on nine of its national monuments curated by Laure Pressac .

Wandering in La Rochelle, a few signs announce an atypical invasion.
Local buses adorn abstract geometric and dynamic shapes…

Bus Yelo La Rochelle, Lek & Sowat ©Théo Larmaillard/CMN

Looking up we noticed that the French flag on the Saint Nicolas Tower has been replaced by a pirate flag floating high with graffuturism and calligraffiti letters. There is no doubt: Lek and Sowat have taken over La Rochelle.

Known for their interventions both in abandoned places such as Mausolee ( see here) or institutions such as the Palais de Tokyo ( more here), Lek and Sowat were particularly interested by the historical monument of the Saint Nicolas Tower due to its architecture, context and history.

Some quick historic facts: during the 14th century La Rochelle was a centre of maritime trade and the Towers were controlling entry to the port by the many trading ship. From the 16th to 18th centuries, the Saint Nicolas Tower and the Chaine Tower were also used as prisons for Huguenots (French protestants) and foreign sailors, followed by military prisoners from the 19th century. Over 600 graffiti have been recorded, engraved in the walls of the Rochelle Towers, as testimony of imprisoned sailors during the various wars.

Lek & Sowat were inspired and intrigued by the story of the junction between the Saint Nicolas Tower and the Chaine Tower, mentioned in an old historical book of La Rochelle, added to the calculations of the architect Juste Lisch whose illustrations concurred with the possible existence of an arch between the two towers.

Illustration by Juste Lisch (1864)

Based on this historical and utopian idea, they have imagined a graffuturist gateway with the help of their friend David ‘Tcheko’ La Tulipe.

Lek & Tcheko

In the continuity of their work done at the Pavillon du Carre Beaudoin , both artists pursue their quest to push the boundaries of graffiti and contemporary art, this time by creating a multisensorial and immersive installation inside the Saint Nicolas Tower.

They wanted to recreate the feelings of fear and unknown so present when doing urbex (urban exploration), not knowing what you might find, but being excited as the same time.
Visitors descend the Saint Nicolas Tower’s stairs in total darkness until their feet touch the floor of the lower ground space. Then the adrenaline kicks in: Boom !

It’s an explosion of lighting effects and shadows, revealing a three dimensional metallic bridge with geometric shapes, reminiscent of the abstract geometric shapes found in Lek & Sowat graffiti paintings.

Vibration sensors connected to a set of nine lights trigger an infinite combination of light variations which evolve through the stamps of visitors. All the surfaces from the floor to ceiling are transformed and the shadows appearing from the metallic structure create characters and shapes on the walls of the Tower.

The immersive installation creates a new dynamic dialogue between the viewer and the historical tower, a vibrant and interactive display for all ages, where the viewer is also an active participant in the creation of the installation.

Shy visitors start an impromptu dynamic dance to activate additional lighting and discover more fractal shadows and projections, characters and shapes. The interaction is fun, liberating and addictive.

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View the full set of pics here

The arched shape of the ground floor combined with the artistic installation also reminds us of a cathedral and its colourful stained glass windows with the graffuturist metallic structure recreating the stained glass windows outlines, giving a sacred aura to the historical space.

With their installation Lek and Sowat successfully take graffiti and contemporary art to another dimension, while giving a second life to the historical monument.

Simply magical.

In addition to their installation, Lek & Sowat are releasing a special limited edition Tote Bag to support the protection of the French cultural heritage, available in CMN’s gift shops.

Stay tuned as we continue our visit of the CMN Cultural season across the summer
“Sur les Murs, Histoire(s) de Graffiti”.

Graffs on Tour(s)
Until 25 June
Saint Nicolas Tower
Lantern Tower
La Rochelle

Paris

Paris: BLO – ‘Anywhere, Out of this mind’

June 2, 2018 butterfly

Berlin based artist BLO, from the Da Mental Vaporz crew, is currently showing a new exhibition entitled Anywhere, Out Of This Mind at Galerie 42b in Paris.

The new body of work features a series of oniric painted assemblages with a mix of grayscale abstract shapes and surrealist female portraits. The figurative intertwines with the abstraction of lines and textures. Painted figurative cut outs inspired by found contemporary images are pieced together with energetic abstract brushstrokes. Playing with textures, focus and blur, light and shadows, it creates a dialogue between the real and subconscious.

A seductive choreography is set up by a series of assemblages, contrast and accumulation, layering of paint, erosion of textures and images. A dialogue is established between actions and reactions. Energetic abstract brushstrokes recall the gesture of the tag which blends with finesse and elegance onto the female body while silk and drapes bring elegance, lightness and sensuality to the female figures. Mastering anatomy and pose with great detail, the cut out paintings bring our focus on hands, legs, a mouth while the woman’s face remains blurred, as to transport us into a nostalgic and dreamlike world.

We asked BLO a few questions to find out more.

How long have you been preparing for this show?

BLO: After a year experimenting with abstraction, and following my artistic residency in Perpignan (FR) in November/December 2017, I decided to return my focus to figurative painting while exploring fragmented compositions. So, I have been preparing for my current show for the past five months.

What is the inspiration behind the exhibition title Anywhere, Out Of This Mind?

BLO: The title of the exhibition is a reference to a poem by Baudelaire, Anywhere Out Of This World, with the last world being replaced by ‘mind’, as an invitation into the subconscious world.

What are your sources of inspiration and creative process?

BLO: Based on contemporary photography and textures I have observed in the urban environment, I created preparatory collages on paper that served as first sketches for my canvasses and then let my inspiration flow on canvas until I am satisfied with the composition.

What materials did you use?

BLO: For the first time, I have used very little spray paint. I focused on acrylic, oil paint, using pigments, varnish, and different types of inks and enamels to create a variety of textures on canvas.

Some of your artworks are purely in black and white while others are colourful. Can you tell us more?

BLO: After the past two years, I wanted to create grayscale paintings again as a tribute to drawings, specially ink drawings, with a focus on textures.

Photo credit: Butterfly Art News, Eli Cornejo, Nicolas Giquel.

BLO
Anywhere, out of this world
Until 16 June 2018
Galerie 42B, Paris

Books, Films, Paris

Release: Underground Does not Exist Anymore

December 4, 2016 butterfly

underground-doesnot-exist-anymore

Fresh from their return from their one year artistic residency at Villa Medici, Lek & Sowat present their latest book ‘Underground Does not Exist Anymore‘ together with curator Hugo Vitrani. The book retraces the events between December 2012 and June 2014, where the two artists supported by curator Hugo Vitrani invaded the Palais de Tokyo through various official interventions, secret or ephemeral .

What started out as a mural on a peripheral space of the institution then evolved into an ambitious long-term project. We look back at the project in more details, as we’ve been keeping the secret for a very long time…

John Giorno x Lek X Sowat - Palais de Tokyo

After a first collaboration with the American artist John Giorno ( see more here) Lek and Sowat were invited a second time to the Palais de Tokyo in December 2012 to paint on the walls of an emergency exit overlooking the technical premises of the museum. Rather than acting as a duo on the agreed space, the artists invited a dozen of graffiti artists including Dem189, Sambre, Wxyz, Katre, L’Outsider, Swiz, Rizot, Legz, Seth to join them and created an immersive installation by painting from the floor to the ceiling and began an urban exploration of the building.

Palais de Tokyo - Paris Lasco Project - Palais de Tokyo

In October 2013 with the complicity of the president of the Palais de Tokyo, Jean de Loisy, new spaces were made available and the project now titled ‘Lasco’ in tribute to the prehistorical cave paintings, the first wall paintings. Curator Hugo Vitrani with Lek and Sowat decided to pay tribute to French graffiti writers with individual dedicated spaces featuring Azyle, Bom.K, dran, Monsieur Qui, ….

In parallel to the authorized areas, Lek and Sowat as well as invited artists like dran, Alëxone, Kan, Blo, Evol, Cleon Peterson would also discreetly wander corridors, push doors, paint unofficially and create hidden or ephemeral installations, illustrating the evanescent nature of graffiti and its ability to penetrate everywhere.

Lasco Project - Palais de Tokyo

The results can be seen within the video ‘Invisible Vandalism’.

Traces Directs / Direct Outlines

The book also features all the artists ephemeral interventions on a blackboard ( see our coverage here) from Philippe Baudelocque, Wxyz, Alëxone, Smo, L’Outsider, Sowat, Babs, Skki, Jay one, Tcheko, Apôtre, Kan, Seb174, Sambre, Nassyo, Popay (pictured below), Spé, Fléo, Lek, Dem189, Swiz to Jacques Villeglé.

Popay

The short feature film Traces Directs is now part of the permanent collections of the Centre George Pompidou.

La Trappe

Pushing their exploration of the building further and further, Lek and Sowat discovered a hatch leading to the ventilation lines underneath the Palais de Tokyo.

This is the epilogue of their artistic journey. Lek and Sowat adorned the narrowed and out of reach spaces with graffiti and with curator Hugo Vitrani invited legendary Mode2 and Futura to paint using ochre, black and white colours, reminiscent of the sacred prehistorical paintings in the Lascaux caves. Large graffiti letters by Mode2 form the sentence ‘Underground doesn’t exist anymore’.

Lasco Project - Palais de Tokyo

View the full set of pics here

Due to the nature of the space and for security reasons, the Palais de Tokyo has now closed the access to the hatch permanently. While these paintings will never be accessible to the public, they have been documented in the following video.

Underground Does not Exist Anymore by Lek &Sowat and Hugo Vitrani
ISBN: 978-2-91-917217-81-8
340 pages – Format 17 x 24 cm
Editions Manuella
€ 30 Available here

In parallel Le Palais de Tokyo just released a special issue Palais Magazine #24 focussing on the urban interventions together with artist interviews from Andre, Azyle, dran, Craig Costello, Futura, Mode2 to Os Gemeos.

udea-palais-de-tokyo

Palais Magazine # 24
ISBN: 978-2-84711-071-5
216 pages – Format 22.5 x 28.5 cm
€ 15 Available here

Festival, Toulouse

Toulouse: Mister Freeze Festival

October 3, 2016 butterfly

Mister Freeze Toulouse 2016

Following the recent Rose Beton Festival back in June ( see our full coverage here), the French pink city is currently hosting Mister Freeze ( a nod to the infamous art fair in London).

Thirty international graffiti and street artists have been invited to paint murals and showcase their artworks.

To kick start the festival, Brusk and Kan from the DMV crew painted a gigantic mural with a ferocious dog surrounded by a fire extinguisher and pointillist flames.

Inside and outside a former aerospace warehouse of 8000 square meters, visitors can wander around and discover playful and colourful characters by POES , JO BER, Maye or Mademoiselle Kat, as well as installations by Popay and Katre to name a few .

Mister Freeze Toulouse 2016

Mister Freeze
Until 9 October 2016
Espace Cobalt
55 Rue Louis Briguet
Toulouse, France

Paris, Shows

Paris: Brusk – ‘Ad Vitam Eternam’

June 20, 2015 butterfly 1 Comment

Brusk - Ad vitam Eternam

Member of the Da Mental Vaporz crew , multidisciplinary artist Brusk is one of the leading figures of Street Art in France, with mastering techniques in graffiti , but also lightgraff, sculpture, installation and 3D animation. For his first Parisian show ‘AD VITAM ETERNAM?‘ at Galerie Itinerrance, Brusk concentrated more than twenty years of exceptional practice on a series of paintings and sculptures. All his imagery is there: ripped icons, symbols of polluted consumerism, children drawings made out of acid colors, ironic references to the masters. Magritte’s ‘Red Model’ is revisited with Nike shoes, Rodin’s ‘Thinker’ is melting away.

Brusk - Ad vitam Eternam

The artist trademark rainbow dripping technique creates volume and lighting effects that evolve in an impressive 3^rd dimension. A sculpture of a real size baby elephant holding a spraycan defies gravity leaving his footprints on the ceiling and walls. A shining and melting bleeding heart sculpture is made of two kissing skulls, symbol of love until death.
‘AD VITAM ETERNAM?’ questions the place of humanity in its urban environment and invites the viewer to reflect on the future of the living and its relationship with death.

Brusk - Ad vitam Eternam