Art against poverty

If you don't speak French it's unlikely that you will be able to understand the play on words in this graffito: "Dans quel monde Vuitton?" sounds like "Dans quel monde vit-on ?  (In what kind of world do we live?). You can also see the Louis Vuitton monogram (LV) on the bucket in which the child is sitting. As you guessed the aim of this clever piece of art is to condemn poverty and the difference between the ones that can buy Vuitton suitcases and the ones that can't. Apparently this artist even belongs to a group called "Art against Poverty" (it's written in the vertical graffito). Beyond the political message, I thought the piece of art was pretty good.

Street art

I like the way street artists now glue paper on Paris walls instead of painting them with spray paint. It allows passers by to discover new artists without damaging the walls, nor costing money to tax payers (for the city has to clean these walls eventually, no matter what). I really love this one, shame that it's not signed. UPDATE: thanks to the help of a few good visitors ;-) I know now that this image was used for the cover of a record by FKA Twigs (London).

The breathing city...

I've found this stunning piece of street art in the rue des Recollets, near the Canal Saint Martin. It was made by Spanish artist  Dourone, who I did not know. The title of this work of art is "listen to the breathing city", which I thought, was appropriate to announce that, despite the weather, the 2014 PDP picnic will take place at the usual place, that is at the end of La rue de l'Amiral Coligny, on the Quais François Mitterrand. Metro station: Louvre Rivoli (See this little video if you're coming by metro, I made it in 2006, but the directions haven't changed). Don't forget to bring something to eat and drink! (More on Facebook).

Street talent

Some street painters are really talented! Look at what I found at the end of the Pont d'Austerlitz. I think the  big brown cabinet shelters the electric wiring of traffic lights (there is a big crossing nearby with lots of traffic lights) and this painter - I think it's right to call him or her a painter!- used it beautifully. I thought it was a good way to start the week ;-) Update: thanks to a reader (Eugen Sitta), I now know who painted this: Christian Guémy aka C215.

Soon to be destroyed...

I don't know if you remember, but I already showed this building. Only it was slightly different at that time... (I have been unable to find my previous photo!). Anyway, it's a building facing the Seine in the 13th arrondissement  which is going to be destroyed soon. Before they tear it down they opened it to street artists. And it has become a true phenomenon. You have to wait in line up to 8 hours to get in! It's amazing... There are 9 more days left, so hurry up. There is a superb website that allows to see more of all this, visit it, it's really worth it.

The largest street decoupage in the world?

Do you know what Actinic keratosis is? I did not... until yesterday morning, when I came across this silhouette at the Place du Palais Royal! Actinic keratosis ( Kératose Actinique in French) is a skin desease that hits 1 in 5 people - in France - after the age of 60 and is mostly due to too much sun exposure. To raise awareness on it, the lab that sells a cure for it organized a street happening; they asked 7 street artists to create the "largest" decoupage silhouette in the world on place du Palais Royal (FYI, it's made of 25 photos and has a global surface of 750 sq. meters - 8 072 sq feet).  I took this photo from the top of l'Hôtel du Louvre, nearby. More info in French on this website. Also, don't miss the stunning making of. 

The Pursuer!

I know that a lot of you will prefer what's in the background in this photo (the beautiful Place Vendôme at sunset), but... I'm sure you also like modern art! So here is one of the twelve statues by Taiwanese artist Li Chen (李真) that are currently on display all around the Place. This one is called The Pursuer and believe me it's really beautiful (and difficult to photograph!) Have a look at some other ones here...

It rocks!

Hey everyone. Thanks soooooooo much for your nice comments yesterday. I'm still in the hospital but everything is fine, I just don't know when I can be operated on ;-( Will I have enough photos to keep up? I don't know, but in the meantime here is one that was on my laptop and that I never posted because I never managed to find out who made this piece of art (I found it in the new part of the 13th arrondissement I already told you about). I still don't know, but since I have no other choice, I'll post it today ;-) If ever someone knows among my readers I'll be happy to edit this caption tomorrow... After a good night sleep (well... sort of!). Again thanks a million. Update: Someone knows... A big thank you to Alex who posted in the comments:  "The sculpture's name is "Rocher dans le ciel" and the artist is Didier Marcel". Merci Alex! And yes, I did not even realize how appropriate this was, considering the situation LOL

Big dog, small dog!

Let me introduce you to Doggy John, a sculpture by Julien Marinetti that I photographed near the rond-point des Champs Elysées yesterday. The photo is not really interesting, but I find it  funny as just when I was taking the shot a "real" dog turned up and showed some interest in my camera!  

Street artist war!

I I already told you about Gregos, the street artist who glues his face (well a cast of his face, like this one) on a lot of walls of Paris. Well some other street artist found a way to use his work and complete it with his own stickers! I thought it was clever and funny. FYI, the bubble on the right is also related to this, it reads "J'ai failli perdre la tête" (I almost lost my head) which is the equivalent to "I almost lost my mind" in English. Last thing, I too this photo in Montmartre, but I'm sure you already recognized this! 

Flower 2.0!

Who said nothing grows on concrete! Look at what I found at La Defense, the business district of Paris where there is far more concrete than grass! OK... They are not real flowers, but flowers made of recycled plastic bottles that are part of an exhibition by Pierre Estève. It's also a "crowdsourcing" event, where everyone is invited to contribute and bring their own bottles! Cool isn't it?

Remembrance Day

Today is November 11 and in a lot of European countries it's a holiday. It's the day the WWI armistice was signed and where we remember the numerous veterans who died during that terrible war. In England, and all commonwealth countries, it's called remembrance day or poppy day, for that is the flower they use to commemorate that day. We don't have this tradition in France, but two days ago I came across this  drawing by street artist Fred le Chevalier and noticed the little red flower on top of the head of the girl. It made me think of a poppy (I know it's far fetched!). 

DIY art at Gare Saint Lazare

I could have made a little quiz and let you guess what this is, but you'd probably never have guessed... It's actually a close up of a "sculpture" that I found last week at the brand new Gare Saint Lazare (a train station located in the heart of Paris, near the Galerie Lafayette and Printemps department stores). It's called Plastic bags (in English) and it's a collective work of art made by Pascale Marthine Tayou, a Cameroonian artist who asked the people to hang multicolored plastic bags around a huge net! The result is stunning ; have a look at the broader view I took or in the official photo gallery.

Belleville artist worksops

Every city has its artists district. I'm not talking about galleries or museum but more off scene workshops, where young, not academic artists, gather and create what might one day become very successful. In Paris, this district is located in Belleville, in the 20th arrondissement. Yesterday, they had a "Portes ouvertes" day (open doors), where everybody could walk into their workshops and admire their work. I saw many interesting things, including this rather unexpected Buddah style temple in front of a giant wall covered in graffiti. More information here.

Betty Boop visits Paris!

I really don't know why someone made posters of Betty Boop and posted them on the walls of Paris, but here is one of them, that I found near the BHV (Bazar de l'hôtel de ville) department store. Maybe in a few days we will discover it's simply an ad campaign! Anyway I thought it would be a nice Sunday photo, even though it's not very Paris centric, nor even French! FYI Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer that appeared for the first tim on August 9, 1930! [Uptade] Doh! I did not even notice that Betty had the body of Marilyn! There must be something going on with these two ladies, as I also found this.

Marianne by Liox

Far from the art fairs that are currently running in Paris now (I will come back to them later...) I just discovered a new artist today. His name is Liox and, among other things, he loves to paint "Marianne" (that is the name we give to the lady who represents the French Republic - the equivalent to Uncle Sam in the US). I found two of these portraits near Saint Germain, but you can find many others (and buy them too!) on his website. I love them, but of course, I'm French, so I'm a little biased! Have a wonderful Friday, Paris will still be sunny and beautiful today!

Konny's work of art

I found this painting at Beaubourg on one of the chimney that vent the underground parking lot and I really froze when I saw it - not because of the cold(!), but because of the strength of this work of art. I did not know anything about Konny, but I looked up on the Web and found out her full name is Konny Steding and that she is German. Have a look at her website and have a good Sunday.

Look!

My scooter broke down a few days ago and I had to take it to a garage... Last evening I went there to pick it up and on the way, I came across this stunning painted wall at rue Oberkampf. It was made by Mosko Associés, a group of street artists that actually started in the Moskowa area (hence their name), an old Paris quarter that has been renovated and completed in 2004. Check their website.

Booooh!

I don't think I ever showed you one of those and though you can find many in Paris. They are made by a street artist called Giaco, who's art is precisely to use street furniture and equipment to turn them into artistic objects of scenes. In the present case he used one of the many grids that allow the sewers to receive light as a thoracic cavity for this skeleton. I love it! Anyway, nothing to do with what is going to keep me busy for the next 3 days: Le Web, a big Internet conference that takes place every year in Paris and that I have never missed since the very first one (it was called Les Blogs at that time)!

The Messenger

Ossip Zadkine is a French sculptor of Russian origins who died in 1967. There is a museum dedicated to his work at rue d'Assas (in his former home), but there are also several of his sculptures throughout Paris. One of them is called Le Messager (the messenger) and it's located at Quai d'Orsay ; from what I read, it was made after a wooden sculpture that was made for the World exhibition of 1937. As you can see, the weather is still lovely in Paris at the moment...