The Torn Posters in the Paris Metro (August 2024)

Take a guided tour of the French capital’s most prominent underground art gallery

William Sidnam
Full Frame

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A torn poster advertising the Volkswagen Golf. Photo taken at Bourg-la-Reine on 23 June 2024 by William Sidnam.

Welcome to the Paris Underground Museum Tour. My name is William and today I’ll be guiding you through the most contemporary art gallery in all of France.

Now, before we get going, let’s just do a quick headcount.

We’re all here? Cool. Let’s dive right in.

Guillotine Blues, 31 March 2024, Collage. Photo by William Sidnam.

So in case you didn’t know, we’re at Montparnasse-Bienvenüe. It’s a metro station below the Gare Montparnasse, one of the major train stations in Paris.

It’s also below the Tour Montparnasse, one of the only skyscrapers in the city. People hated the building so much that the council promised to ban the erection of other such monstrosities within Paris intramuros. So ironically, whilst the Tour Montaparnasse is hated for marring the Paris skyline, it arguably also saved it.

Now if we make our way here, we can find an artwork titled Guillotine Blues by a certain Monsieur Unknown. What I like about this work is that it’s tricolore, containing the red, white and blue of the French…

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William Sidnam
Full Frame

NZ creative based in Paris. Advertising copywriter & photography lover w/ 3 Medium Staff Picks. Documenting torn metro posters at www.instagram.com/metrotears/