Stencil and Graffiti mélange

On my way home the other day I spotted a pretty large graffiti collection on a single wall. It’s a great mix of stencil pieces by Jeff Aerosol a White Man (paint) by Jerome Mesnager, a stencil by Pimax and a poster grafitti by Speedy Graphito.

It’s been there for quite a while so it is probably comissioned by the locals or somehow protected. It is located in the famed Latin Quarter of Paris and let me tell you that the City of Paris would have taken this down within hours if it wasn’t somehow protected.

It’s a pity that someone painted over the head of the White Man by Mesnager.

Otherwise it’s a great collection of some of Paris’ biggest and most original guys.

You can find the piece on Google street view below (with the head on the White Man) its on Rue des Feuillantines.

Great Graffiti Zone in Sternschanze Hamburg

I recently went for a short trip to Hamburg and was pleasantly surprised by the city. A friend of mine showed me around the city and brought me to Sternschanze for a classic Curry Wurst (which I greatly enjoyed) and while there I had snapped some shots of some awesome graffiti pieces I noticed and really original stuff to. 

Here are some shots I took and I could have probably spent a whole day there just finding great stencils, tiles and poster art. Not to mention the other graffiti pieces. 

The graffiti covered building was pretty cool. The whole area is pretty graffiti covered though totally hip area and actually quite safe. Lots of great cafes, bars and shops. 

Otherwise there was time neat Tile Stencils that I haven’t seen before. They are well made since there is all the time in the world to paint them properly and in some cases I wasn’t even sure if they were graffiti or not. One of from the Piratos series that I discovered in World of Stencils (thanks Maya).

The majority of the Stencils are from ALIAS who per Maya is a Berlin artist but did quite some work in Hamburg too. 

She has a bunch of great stencils from Hamburg area (and elsewhere in the world) – I advise you check out her site too.

Sorry for some of the crap photo quality.

Enjoy.

[:-]

Seeing the T.A.G. Expo – Paris, Grand Palais

Check out that roofing

The contrast between the classic beauty of the Grand Palais and the tags and throw-ups on the poster

The beauty of the Grand Palais stairs up

There were two long walls like this with sprayed canvas pieces down both lines.

Liked the one in the middle that could almost have been a stencil

Like the simple strokes of the couple kissing simple but clear.

Nice lettering – probably not sprayed

Ok so I went to visit the expo and I can say it was not what I expected, but hey that doesn’t mean it was all crap.

When you come to the place the setting is amazing. It is THE Grand Palais in Paris, off the between Alexandre III Bridge and the Champs Elysees. Some of the most amazing architecture in France is in that area. I could ramble about it but the picture will explain better.

I thought it would be pictures of great pieces and a wide variety of graffiti types. Actually I thought this would be a sort of overview on graffiti. As the name T.A.G means Tag and Graffiti, however that isn’t what it is. It is a collection of graffiti by a variety of artists that Alain-Dominique Gallizia has managed to collect. There are some big names in there such as PhaseII and others. Gallizia basically contacted the artists and had them do a standard size piece for him on a theme.

My objection to this is that as it is done on a canvas in a workshop the quality should be 100%, the point is that it’s got to communicate. That’s probably why I like stencils so much (and to my disappointment there wasn’t a single stencil in the whole expo).

[addition]

I re-read my post and thought I would ad this (after the amazing comment from gmozz22) and want to make sure my post is somewhat objective.
1. If you like spray pieces then this is the expo for you. It has many many different styles – of the spray variety.
2. I would have preferred the pieces to be bigger as I felt they didn’t convey what a full graffiti piece is, but I understand it makes it difficult to transport.
3. What I didn’t know when looking up the expo on the net is that it is litterally two large wall panels of same-sized graffiti canvas’ – the entrance fee is 5 EUR which is about half the price of a normal expo.

Voila, now that was my view and up to you to make your own.

[;-]

Added: Lisa Forman (lisaforman.com) sent me a link to the photos she took when seeing the expo which I am publishing here (they are a lot better than mine) enjoy them http://lisaforman.zenfolio.com/p761974343

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…

[:-]