Street Art // October 22nd, 2015
Three weeks ago I ventured to the awe-inspiring arrondissements of Paris with my classmates and teachers. There, I was flooded with a plethora of the most beautiful art I have ever seen. During my time in Paris I visited the Musée d’Orsey, the Louvre, and The Pompidou Centre, and the Picasso Museum. Every visit taught me more than I could ever begin to learn from a textbook. I started my journey without possessing any substantial interest in modern or street art, mostly because of my lack of exposure to it during my time living at home. I did not at all foresee myself being drawn to modern art because I found it to be cold and difficult to connect to on an emotional level. But, I was pleasantly surprised with the diversity of artwork in Paris, specifically the street art.
On day two of Paris week I had the opportunity to amble through parts of the nineteenth arrondissement with our wonderful Village Program coordinator. She studied abroad with The Village a few years ago so she took me to an area called La Villette where she recalled vast expanses filled with artwork by one of her favorite artists, Da Cruz. Walking through the streets near our hostel in Bastille, I saw street art from time to time but it was nothing compared to what I experienced in the La Villette area.
As you will see in my photos, the street art in Paris is very diverse, both in content and location. I saw street art on doors, windows, buildings, boats, bridges, vehicles, mailboxes, and sidewalks. A large portion of the street art was executed with some type of spray paint, though I did observe a few pieces made from materials such as Sharpie, mosaic tiles, decoupage, and chalk. The possibilities were endless. One thought I had while in Paris was, “What is the difference between street art and graffiti?” I learned that graffiti is generally made with the main objective to vandalize a structure. Street art is meant to add something that isn’t harmful or offensive to a structure in hopes of bringing a community together through art. All of these photographs demonstrate street art, each possessing their own unique purpose.
Most of the pieces I saw on the streets were unsigned so I do not know who is responsible for creating these works, but I was able to find a handful of signed pieces. Invader, Da Cruz, Marko and Inserra are the names of some of the artist I was able to locate. A majority of the work I saw on the streets was done by Invader and Da Cruz. Invader is the founder of the ongoing Space Invader Project, which started in 1998. His goal with this project is about “liberating Art from its usual alienators that museums or institutions can be. But it is also about freeing the Space Invaders from their video games TV screens and to bring them in our physical world.” (http://www.space-invaders.com/about/) Invader is an Unidentified Free Artist and chooses to use a pseudonym, always working behind a mask, so as to not be identified when viewing his own work in public and still be among any visitors viewing his work. His artwork is displayed all throughout the world for people to enjoy.
The street art I enjoyed most was by the artist Da Cruz. Our program coordinator is very knowledgeable about this artist and was able to show me several pieces of his work in La Villette. A tribal and Latin American vibe is conveyed through much of Da Cruz’s work. His use of vibrant colors bring life to the streets. I admire the attention Da Cruz has for the location of his work as he generally works in parts of town that reflect and have a strong connection with his work. The area we traveled to in La Villette was very culturally diverse so it is almost as though Da Cruz is highlighting the culture and saying “this is what I am, look at me.” It’s bold and his distinct style isn’t hard to miss.
After Paris week I traveled to Italy for 5 days and saw street art there as well. It was interesting to me to see the marked difference between not only the significantly less amount of street art in Florence and Rome as compared to that of Paris. The street art is Paris was, as I aforementioned, diverse both culturally and in content, though this really was not the case from what I saw in Florence and Rome. Most of the street art in Italy was small, ironic pieces of art rather than murals. For the most part, the Italian art took on a more graffiti-esque air as well. In some cases it was difficult to tell the intention of the artist, whether it be with vandalism in mind or to make an artistic statement. You can see the contrast between the two for yourself below.
Italy
One thing my journey to Paris (and Italy) taught me: sometimes you go into a situation with a specific mindset and in the end, if you’re open to gaining a new perspective, you will find blessings you had never even imagined.
