Category: Street Art

Postcard from Marseille, France: Vigilante ‘Street Doctor’ flacks cracks

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Above: Mosaic sidewalk patch by Ememem in Marseille

I’m just a sidewalk poet…. My work is the story of the city, where cobblestones have been displaced.”

Street artist Ememem, interviewed by Arnesia Young for My Modern Met

This mosaic underfoot in Marseille caught my attention, with no expectation of future encounters. Then we started bumping into similar tileworks in Lyon, where they transform annoying potholes, sidewalk trip-zones and missing chunks from buildings clipped by careless drivers into works of art.

As it turns out, the artist, who refers to himself as Ememem, is a native of Lyon. Ememem terms his work “flacking.” Flaque means puddle in French, but, instead of puddling, his hole-plugging repairs assume the role of a puddle-displacement public service.

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Postcard from Bilbao, Spain: Heart of Basque Country, Vitoria-Gasteiz

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Above: Detail of mosaic portion of “Eskuz Esku” in Basque, or “Hand to Hand.” Lead artist John Pitman Weber and assistant Alicia Vallejo Sanz, a 2010 project of Itinerario Muralistico of Vitoria-Gasteiz.

While Bilbao with the Guggenheim and San Sebastian’s Running of the Bulls have made those cities well known in the United States, Vitoria-Gasteiz is the actual seat of government of Basque Country. With a population of about 250,000, the Basque capital lies only 40 miles outside Bilbao. The hyphenation reflects the duality of Spain’s sometimes dueling cultures: Vitoria is Spanish while Gasteiz is the Basque half of its name.

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Postcard from London, England: Street art in Shoreditch, Part 2

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Above: “Future,” mural by Mr Cenz (Julian Phetean) with typography by Lovepusher in Shoreditch neighborhood

I just see the space and just do it. There’s no tricks. There’s no projectors. No apps, and no grids. What you do have is a building that has its unique architectural features.”

Matthew A. Eller interview of ROA, Belgium artist who tucked the pig below tightly in a space between a windowsill and the sidewalk, in Street Art News

Continue reading “Postcard from London, England: Street art in Shoreditch, Part 2” →