Street art colours Paris during the Olympic Games

Paris is getting a colourful splash of Olympic creative spirit with nearly 30 vibrant pieces of street art appearing on the walls of bustling metro stations, a large billboard at the airport and in front of the city’s town hall.
One features a drawing of French fencer Ysaora Thibus in action. Another shows canoeists paddling down the Seine. Others show people having fun in a busy neighbourhood. The original art spread across Paris and other nearby host cities around the Olympic and Paralympic venues.
“During this Olympic season, there is a lot of energy and people come from all over the world,” said JonOne, a New Yorker who has lived in Paris for three decades and is considered a pioneer of graffiti in the street art world. He is one of six renowned street artists from four continents whose works are currently displayed in train stations, airports, taxis, digital screens and billboards.
The artists were selected through a campaign. They come from France (Marko 93 and Olivia De Bona), Brazil (Alex Senna), Australia (Vexta) and the United States (Swoon).
Each creation highlights the spirit of the neighbourhoods – such as Saint-Denis, Montmartre and rue Montorgueil – capturing the vitality of cafés, bookstores and shops that have become an essential fabric of Paris and the wider Île-de-France region.