Tag Archives: Lek

Paris: Lasco project at Palais de Tokyo

November 18, 2013 butterfly 2 Comments

Opening in Paris on 21 Nov is the second instaltment of the ongoing project “Les Entrailles” at Palais de Tokyo, this time called “Lasco”.
Lek and Sowat and curator Hugo Vitrani have brought together 50 artists from different generations and field of practice to invade the secondary spaces of Palais de Tokyo not initially intended to accommodate exhibitions and closed to the public. Within this raw space and minimalist lighting, every artist has contributed with their skills and gesture to produce a collective work overlapping styles and techniques using spray paint, paintbrush, pencil, chalk, and other salvaged materials found on site.

“Lasco” session
With: ALËXONE, PHILIPPE BAUDELOCQUE, DRAN, HOCTEZ, JAY ONE, KAN, LEGZ , SILVIO MAGAGLIO, NASSYO, O’CLOCK, SEBASTIEN PRESCHOUX, ROTI, SKKI, and special guests like LARRY CLARK, MARTHA COOPER

View the full set of pics here

Les Entrailles – First session
With : ALËXONE, AZYLE, BABS, BOM.K, COKNEY, DEM189, DRAN, HONDA, HORFÉ, KATRE, LEK, OUTSIDER, RIZOTE, SAMBRE, SETH, SOWAT, SWIZ, VELVET, WXYZ, ZOER And also : ALZO, BADHYPNOZ, BRUSK, BORE, BORIS, CYRIAK, DEMON, DRAS, EMOY, GOMER, GRIS1, HOBZ, INÉ, JAW, KAN, KÉBOY, KENO, KENCE, LEGZ, MEKO, MR. QUI, NEXT, NIBOR, OGRE, ONDE, PEAMS, RUSTY, SAEYO, SINDÉ, SIRIUS, SMOE, SODA, TCHEKO, TEURK,WO, XABY

In parallel to the Lasco project the screening of Traces Direct (covered here) will be shown.

Popay

Palais de Tokyo
From 21 November
13 Avenue Du Président Wilson, Paris 75016

Paris, Shows

Paris: Lek x Sowat x Legz x Roti for La Tour 13

October 17, 2013 butterfly 1 Comment

Following our recent coverage on La Tour 13 (covered here) French artists Lek, Sowat, Legz, and Roti collaborated together on this extensive insitu installation “Minotaur” in the building’s basement.

Sowat explains in his words below the concept behind the installation:

Lek and I chose to work inside the tower’s basement. With its bad lighting, small corridors and dark atmosphere, the place looked so much like a maze that we decided to base our installation on Greek Mythology’s Minotaur.

First, we excavated various objects left in the basement by the building’s former tenants and covered them with white fluorescent paint before displaying them in key parts of the cellar. Secondly we asked Roti, to build a plaster Minotaur that we placed at the center of the maze. We then painted all pipes and hoses leading to the beast with fluorescent paint. Legz, one of the first French graffiti writer who left the streets to paint exclusively in abandoned places, then started painting his signature interlacing spaghetti’s all around the basement empty boxes. Finally, using only black light and fluorescent paint, we covered the rest of the basements with our own lines, shapes and abstract calligraphies.

View more pics of La Tour 13 here

Paris, Street

Paris: La Tour 13

October 1, 2013 butterfly 4 Comments

Over looking the Seine , La Tour Paris 13 ‎ is a project curated by Mehdi Ben Cheikh from Galerie Itinerrance. During a year the entire building was painted by 100 international street and graffiti artists, each leaving their mark with murals and installations within the 36 apartments over 9 floors and cellars.

Opening to the public for a month from 1 October, the building is due to be demolished in November, making it the largest temporary street art exhibition in France. To celebrate the upcoming launch a giant Keith Haring banner has also been erected along the building.

Participating artists are: 08 (IT) – 2mil (BR) – Add Fuel (PT) – AGL (FR) – Agostino Lacurci (IT) – Alëxone (FR) – A1one (Iran) – Amin (FR) – Aous (Saoudi Arabia) – AweR (IT) – Azooz (Saoudi Arabia) – Belem (PT) – Bom.K (FR) – BToy (ES) – C215 (FR) – Celeste Java (FR) – Cope2 (USA) – Corleone (PT) – Dabro (Tunisie) – Dado (IT) – Dan23 (FR) – David Walker (UK) – Eime (PT) – eL Seed (Tunisia) – Ethos (BR) – Etnik (IT) – Fenx (FR) – Flip (BR) – Gael (FR) – Gilbert (FR)- Guy Denning (UK)- Herbert Baglione (BR) – Hogre (IT) – Hopnn (IT) – Indie 184 (USA) – Inti Ansa (FR) – Inti Castro (Chili) – Jaz (Argentine) – JB Rock (IT) – Jimmy C (AUS) – Joao Samina (PT) – Jonone (USA) – Joys (IT) – Julien Colombier (FR) – Kan (FR) -Katre (FR) – Kruella (PT) – Legz (FR) – Lek (FR) – Liliwenn (FR) – Loiola (BR) – Ludo (FR) – Madame Sanbor (FR) – Mar (PT) – Marko93 (FR) – Mario Belem (PT) – Maryam (Saoudi Arabia) – Matéo Garcia Leon (FR) – Maz (Saoudi Arabia) – MoneyLess (IT) – Mosko (FR) – Mp5 (IT) – Myre (FR) – Nano (Chili) – Nebay (FR) – Nemi Uhu (FR) – Nilko (FR) – Orticanoodles (IT) – Pantonio (PT) -Rea 1 (FR) – Paulo Arraiano (PT) – Peeta (IT) – Philippe Baudelocque (FR) – Rapto (BR) – Rodolphe Cintorino (FR) – Roti (FR) – Sambre (FR) – Sean Hart (FR) – Sebastien Preschoux (FR) – Senso (IT) – Seth (FR) – Shaka (FR) – Shoof (Tunisia) – Shuck2 (FR) – Sowat (FR) – Spazm (FR) – Speto (BR) – STeW (FR) – Stinkfish (CL) -Sumo (Lux) – Tellas (IT) – Tinho (BR) – Tore (FR) – Uno (FR) – Uriginal (ES) – Vexta (AUS) – Vhils (PT) – +- (or Maismenos) (PT).

View the full set of pics by Butterfly

La Tour 13
5 rue Fulton Paris 13e.

Paris, Shows, Street

Paris: John Giorno x Lek x Sowat at Palais de Tokyo

October 27, 2012 butterfly 2 Comments

For the new season Imaginez l’imaginaire at the prestigious Parisian institution Palais de Tokyo , Jean de Loisy and Akiko Miki invited John Giorno , major figure of New York’s underground scene in the 60′s and of the Beat generation, to adorn four of the freshly renovated building’s walls with his poem paintings.

With the support of Hugo Vitrani, Giorno seized the occasion to confront two of his poem paintings ‘Just say no to family values‘ and ‘A hurricane in a drop of cum‘ to the work of graffiti artists Lek and Sowat, that he discovered through their Mausolee project (covered here), an illegal artistic residency that brought together 40 French graffiti writers in a 430,000 sq ft ruin.

Lek and Sowat covered the walls with their signature style graffitis, on top John Giorno’s self adhesive vinyl letters, before pealing them off, thus revealing the american artist’s poems.

The artists then stashed the poem’s letters negatives to wheat paste them with the help of Dem189, on the river bank’s grey walls, opposite the Palais de Tokyo.

Pics by Butterfly, Hugo Vitrani and Thias

Imaginez L’imaginaire
Until 28 September 2013
Palais de Tokyo

Books, London, Shows, Street, Videos

Paris Opening: Mausolee with Lek x Sowat

April 23, 2012 butterfly 2 Comments

On August 12, 2010, French graffiti artists Lek and Sowat found an abandoned supermarket of 430,000sq. ft in the north of Paris. For a year, in the greatest of secrets they invited forty French graffiti artists to collaborate and create an illegal graffiti Mausoleum.

As the monument is not accessible for safety reasons, Lek and Sowat recreated a few murals and installations in an abandoned apartment to share their experience with the public .

During the two years, they discovered traces of life from squatters that left in a rush. For the exhibition, the artists brought back toys, letters and objects as a tribute to the families living in the Mausolee.

An installation made of found signage on site, staff instructions and reports reminds of the golden days of the supermarket as key role to the community.

The opening was also the occasion to celebrate the release of the book (available here) and a video retracing all the visual process of this adventure.