Going to visit the Graffiti expo in Paris

Am going to go visit the TAG expo in the Grand Palais (a prestigious glass roofed expo palace in Paris). Am looking forward to it. Hope there is a good variety of pieces in there.

Will be blogging my visit, it will be a long post.

[:-]

Tile Mosaic Graffiti

 

A Tile graffiti from Invader

I’ve blogged several different types of graffiti. But not Mosaic Graffiti… Actually I discovered this in the streets of Paris. I saw a few of them and wondered if this was something official, maybe some type of modern art (there has been some pretty weird legal modern art stuff around).  But speaking with a friend I found out that this is actually graffiti. 

It’s some of the nicest graffiti I have seen, not too loud, not too big but nice and funny.

It’s done by Invader, there’s more information on his graffiti here. He has done hundreds of these all over the world. 

More coming…

[;-]

The Grenade Perfume

This stencil was used by a theater company in Paris to promote their show. The theatre piece is called “Les vipères se parfument au jasmin” I have no idea what it is about and any quality. 

However the stencil piece they used is great and could have been from Banksy or Dolk. In fact maybe it is but I haven’t been able to find out. 

 

The perfume grenade stencil (pochoir) poster from the Paris subway.

 

If someone knows who did the original art please leave a comment. 

On another note, I started a thread called “Who has been blogging graffiti” on www.blogcatalog.com, see the link here: http://www.blogcatalog.com/discuss/entry/who-has-blogged-graffiti and there are some really interesting graffiti styles out there. Such as the one from Bayarts about moss graffiti. Will definitely blog that one shortly.

Nemo stencil graffiti in Paris

Nemo stencil in Paris - notice the white man climbing the wall

 

I spotted this stencil in Paris recently and found it quite nice. It is by an artist called Nemo, and has done quite some stencil work in Paris.

Nemo is known for selecting spaces that look bad and doing his piece there. Such as a destroyed wall etc, while not the same witty style as Bansky and Dolk he is rather artistic and almost poetic in his way. There is a lot happening in his piece. It isn’t sure if Nemo and Jerome Mesnager are the same person but the pieces are often linked. 

Jerome also did the art for an entire hotel in Paris called Hotel des Academies et des Arts, check out their site – it is a great idea for an artist to do.

Voila – am looking out for more.

[:-]

Graffiti, art or vandalism? my take

On www.duncancumming.co.uk you can follow the story of how a graffiti artist in Scotland got caught and was about to spend 28 month in prison for vandalism. This brings up the eternal question, is graffiti an art or is it vandalism?

That graffiti is art is no question, the use of color, lettering and communication is exactly what art is all about. Look at some of the stencils and pieces by the biggest street artists, they actually deliver a message.

That graffiti is vandalism is an understandable point as well. I wouldn’t like to wake up one morning and find my newly renovated house covered in a graffiti piece. No matter how nice it is it may just not fit with the deco that I chose for the place.

So?

It needs to be done intelligently for everyone’s benefit. A graffiti piece can totally decorate an appropriate location. See this photo for example. It may or may not be authorized graffiti, but it fits the urban area. Try doing this on the Louvre and yes, that would be vandalism.

Graffiti wall paris (taken with mobile phone)

 The graffiti sort of “protects” the wall from being covered in all sorts of other crap. Additionally this fits the young people that hang out in the area and they don’t mind it.

If a street artist places his pieces intelligently it actually doesn’t harm but can help. Where it becomes stupid is when the Graffiti guys just do it for the adrenaline (yes I know it is part of the kick). There has to be a balance.

 

Graffiti Marketing for Radio Nostalgie

 

 

And if an artist did vandalise a wall, then pull him by the scruff of the neck and get him to spend his night cleaning it up and repainting it at his cost, he can take responsibility for what he did. Trying to jail someone for 28 month for graffiti is lame, that is the work of someone who is so lazy that he can’t even make him fix what he did wrong. 

I know that is the way because I went that way and the most efficient way to make a bad thing into a good thing is to take responsibility for what one has done and use the effort to become more competent and help others. I saw how many former street artists of my time became graphic designers, well that’s a great way to use the skill.

And here is a short video on how that can be done…

Feel free to comment, and vote.

[;-]

Almost Stencil Graffiti from Paris

 

As I mentioned in my last post, in walking around in the 10th district in Paris and looking at some of the graffiti culture they have I saw this pasted graffiti. It’s not stencil, it’s not spray – it’s a poster.

It’s by a Paris based street artist called Ludo, and is part of a series called Nature’s Revenge – I had never heard of him before but noticed afterwards that he was done quite some work in Paris.

Check out this link http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/18/view/3573/natures-revenge-by-ludo.html

It’s pretty cool and a different way, pretty environmentally friendly.

What about bio-graffiti?

Enjoy…

 

PS: I was offered a room at a pretty neat hotel in the 10th called Taylor Hotel, it’s a sort of design hotel, the reception area is all decorated with images of posters from early 20th century. Almost stencils… [;-]

The Paris 10eme Stencils series

Recently while going through the 10th Arrondissement (district) of Paris I noticed some nice graffiti pieces and a few stencils. Actually I saw quite some stencils, but I wont blog them all as they are such a long way away from Banksy, Dolk or Blek le Rat (i.e. they lack communication and humor).

There was this stencil which is on a shop window and seems to be the logo of the shop, artist seems to be someone called “ezy” or “ezp” – I will be on the lookout for more by him.

More coming soon.

Cheers  [;-]

Skull Stencil? or just painting?

I spotted this skull in Copenhagen some weeks ago.It seems too detailed to be a stencil but then again it could be.

It seems to be legal which is nice. I wish there would be places like this for the more expressive stencils like Dolk’s or Banksie’s.

I also had a skull stencil in another post with a picture of a Dolk stencil I took in Copenhagen.

If anyone knows what they are or where they come from – please put a comment! Thanks.

[.-]

Line Art graffiti

I noticed this line art graffiti the other day and thought it is pretty cool. I am probably the only one that thinks a line like this can be cool but I thought I would share my views on it. Of course this does not compare to Dolk, Banksy, Blek le Rat and the other great stencil artists – especially that this isn’t a stencil.

The photo is lowres, it had to snap it while driving  by.

What is neat about this is the way the line changes width and direction, it could be an incomplete piece but I don’t think so as none of the lines form any letters or words.

But if you love lettering like I do then you will appreciate these lines.

Feel free to comment…

[:-]

Environmentally Friendly Graffiti (masking tape graffiti)

I saw an interesting piece of graffiti the other day. For the lettering boys like myself this is a pretty cool type (for others it’s probably the most boring stuff they’ve seen).

This photo doesn’t really show the piece well though so let me explain. The text LEDEUX that you see here is actually written with masking tape. Yes the type which painters use to cover windows etc.

The serifs on the fonts are really well done with perfectly cut rounded corners and all.

It’s a nice piece of lettering. And it’s even nicer when you look up close and see it’s actually masking tape.

Truly, environmentally friendly graffiti. The funny thing is it could be removed by anyone since it is just tape, yet nobody takes it off.

 

Enjoy.

[;-]