Thursday 25 December 2014

Paris Street Art, December 2014

In this previous entry after a weekend breakaway in Paris I said I had not come across much Street Art there if compared to Berlin, but it was probably cause I had not been in the right area. This weekend I was lucky to do another short escape to Paris right before Christmas, and had my hostel in an area that I had read somewhere that could be considered like the Parisian Kreuzberg. I'm talking about Menilmontant-Belleville, an area in the juncture of districts (arrondissements) XIX and XX. Well, it's not Kreuzberg/Fridrieschain cause France is not Germany, and in spite of globalisation (the good parts and the bad parts) cities with such a character and history still manage to keep a big degree of uniqueness. Anyway, there were some moments where I really had a sort of "I'm in Berlin" feeling (lots of left-wing political posters, stickers and slogans on the walls). Something that really helps to it is coming across with pieces done by Artists which works I'm used to find in Berlin.

I found this piece by Alias in Rue Belleville:

this work by Alice in Montmartre

and 2 impressive "small" murals by a genious (with socio-political motivations in most of his works) called Alaniz. This beautiful Arab woman face:

and this "young artist" one:

His style seemed familiar to me, so searching on the net it made quite sense to find that he's based on Berlin, and that some impressive works that remain in my mind from strolling around Berlin, are indeed his creations.

Notice that on the top right of the Arab woman you'll see one of those omnipresent "it's time to dance" paste-ups, that though particularly everywhere in Berlin, are indeed the product of French artist, SOBER.

If you're into Urban landscapes, the point where Canal St Martin and the elevated M2 tracks cross will quite delight your eyes. The similarity with places like KottbusserTor in Kreuzberg is quite clear. I found there a really good work denouncing the drama of child soldiers.

I love the elevated Metro stations around there. The design is almost a clone of those in Berlin; I don't know when these stations were built, but I assume it was well before the EU dream started (however incomplete it is and wrong things have been done, 70 years of peace between European countries is like a dream), so at a time when the French-German relations were pretty bad (as always throughout history save for the last 50 years)... so it's interesting to see how elements of both cities were developed following the same patterns.

I quite liked this "Urban Angel" paste-up:

And obviously pretty enjoyed this Antifa mural

One form of Street Art that is "very French" is painted vans and trucks (I've seen quite a few in Toulouse, but they're everywhere in Paris). In too many occasions it's just ugly Street Crap, but you can find beautiful pieces like these:



I could continue to add pictures here for a good while, but I think it's time to end the post, so will just add this cute tree:

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