A building,
which soon will be demolished on the Seine quays (close to the new National
Library) has been invaded, outside and inside by street artists. This has been
done in an authorized and organized way and the place can be visited during the month of
October. The project is referred to as “La Tour du 13e”. More than hundred artists from 16 different
nations participate. I’m a bit of a fan of (good) street art and was of course
tempted.
I tried to
go there twice (so far). Seeing the long waiting lines the first time, I
decided to go back another day. I was there one hour before opening hour and
the waiting lines did already make the tour of the building. There was a written
message that after a specific point there was no chance to get in during the
day. Here you can see the lines beyond this point. Consequently I decided not
to insist.
On the net
I could find a few examples of what I missed to see from the interior.
This
building is thus in the 13th arrondissement. This is not, architecturally,
the most attractive arrondissement in Paris… a lot of dull buildings from the
60’s and the 70’s, but it’s improving.
… but, this
is an area where street artist have been encouraged, sponsored, to decorate, officially
and in large format, some buildings. To console myself from the disappointment
of not being able to enter the “Tour 13”, I made a little walk around the
arrondissement. Here are a few examples of what I found. (I added the name of
the artist, when I found it.) There are many more … which I have to find.
“Obey”
(Shephard Fairy) got especially known for the 2008 “Hope-Barack Obama” campaign
poster. “C215” (Christian
Guémy) made a cat here, but is better known for portraits of people.
Locally,
the most well-known may be “jana & js”, which you find a lot of around Paris,
but they definitely work successfully internationally.
The works
of the Chilean “Inti” can also be found worldwide.
I was
impressed by “Vhils” (Alexander Farto). He has a special technique of chipping
and sawing away pieces on walls to basically make portraits.
“M-City”
has made a large number of monumental works all over the world. See also the top picture.
Here is a
map of what I found and where.
Posts
