Paris.- Whether to illustrate a docile wolf next to an empowered Little Red Riding Hood or to criticize the hypocrisy of Emmanuel Macron, the walls of Paris are a “democratic and powerful” artistic showcase that covers a broader audience than that of the classic museums. From the capital.
“Urban art breaks down all social barriers, because it is admired by everyone from a homeless person to the bourgeois of western Paris,” Chrixcel, author of the recently published work “Urban tribunes, walls of vindication,” told EFE.
Capital of haute cuisine, fashion, an example of “Haussmannian” rationalist architecture and home to several of the best-known museums in the world (Louvre, Pompidou, Orsay), the French capital is now seeking to make up for lost time compared to other capitals. of urban art, such as Berlin, New York or Sao Paulo.
Despite the fear of many Parisians that they will “dirty” their glamorous city, street visual arts, which encompass graffiti, posters and collage, among other expressions, have ended up prevailing and are already recognized as a heritage of the city (its City Hall socialist organized a large exhibition in 2022 on 60 years of urban art).
For Chrixcel, the artistic name of this amateur photographer who knows the walls of the capital inside out, purely aesthetic trends coexist with those of a more vindictive nature, as shown in her book published by Alternatives, an imprint of the prestigious Gallimard.
The “yellow vests”, the refugee and covid crises, the war in Ukraine and now the conflict in Gaza and Israel, are some of the issues discussed. Uncomfortable topics in which it is difficult to express oneself in “places as tense as social networks,” she explains.
“The walls are something real, made of a material like stone, cement, contrary to social networks,” emphasizes Chrixcel, to delve into the idea that the messages of urban art are much more genuine.
The artist Jaëraymie and his project “Distortions” has been one of the projects that has most marked this urban art specialist in Paris and illustrates the cover of his book.
Released a few months before the 2022 presidential elections, Jaëraymie shocked many French people due to the interventions he made in the photos of the main candidates in that race.
Macron dressed in a yellow vest with a black eye (a denunciation of police violence against this popular movement) or the far-right Marine Le Pen dressed as a Muslim, with a blue veil, were two of the symbolic portraits that most impressed talk.
a docile wolf
The rich and diverse ecosystem of Parisian urban art has the “The Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood” posters as one of its exponents. This reinterpretation of the traditional story, which has a series of works especially in the north and east of the capital, generates, at first glance, a certain confusion.
“We wanted to show a less dominant, aggressive and violent wolf than the one in the story, and with Little Red Riding Hood we wanted a girl who is free to do whatever she wants, if she wants to walk around in her underwear, let her do it,” Thomas, explains to EFE. the artist behind “Loup-y-es-tu” who works as a physical education teacher at a public school.
Together with “Little chaperon rouge”, a creator who prefers to remain anonymous, Thomas draws the wolf and his companion Little Red Riding Hood. They do it on poster papers and use acrylic paint or Indian ink.
“Little Red Riding Hood has features that are quite rigid, which can even create fear, while the wolf has rounder features, with a more docile position,” explained the artist.
Once the originals are made – they do not use copies – they paste them, sometimes in unexpected areas, such as in the Villa de l’Ermitage, a genuine corner of low houses and cobbled roads located in the heart of the 20th district of Paris.
Thomas has been walking the streets of the capital for years and has noticed a greater openness to urban art, despite the reluctance of many residents to abstract interventions.
«I have the impression that covid has radically changed many things. The museums were closed and people have looked for art, this is a great moment for its democratization », he considers. EFE
2023-10-22 14:15:45
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