C215

To my astonishment, some days ago in Toulouse, after buying a croissant in one of my most appreciated boulangeries, I just stumbled upon a fascinating work by C215!

C215 is one of my favorite street artist. This Parisian does some of the most amazing and elaborate stencil works that one could dream of. Two years ago I came across in Berlin with a huge, astonishing book about his work that despite the price (the value for money was indeed excellent, but the book was massive, so it could not be cheap) I could not help to bring back home. Apart from amazing images of his art the book also provides some personal views, and I pretty much liked what I read.

In 2013, when the French, black skinned socialist politician, Christiane Taubira, suffered a wave of racist insults, this guy that does not define himself a leftist (and that I guess probably will not agree with some of the stances of this woman), hurried up to paint a piece paying homage to her.
Immediately after the Charlie Hebdo massacre, C215 offered free "Je suis Charlie" stencils so that people could paint their solidarity all over. Over time he has expressed his support to Charlie in multiple occasions, along with his defense of the "laicite" and the French Republican values. He has done some terribly beautiful works paying tribute to the Charlie Hebdo victims (not only the cartoonists, but also the sometimes forgottent policeman that died during the attack) and those of the Hypercacher.

This work by C215 in Toulouse is a bit different from most of the works I know from him. This time he depicts a dramatic historical scene, rather than contemporary (either anonymous, ordinary or "famous") faces. I find the explanation in some local newspapers like this. Summing up, a hidden painting thought to be (experts are still examining it) a work by Caravaggio was found near Toulouse back in 2014.