“My first graffiti was in Montluçon on a building that has since been destroyed. This first drawing was not really well done, confides the artist Jean-Guy Solnon. But I very quickly had an attraction for this art. “
A work to represent Europe
From the New York subway, to the Parisian and London subways, graffiti, a major movement in contemporary art, has been exported to Europe since the 1980s. This passage from one continent to another has been made possible thanks to followers. “Since October 22, the Euro Graff exhibition has been highlighting these artists with around forty works on display. “
One of them, the largest, is hung on the walls of the Hôtel du Département. It was produced by Jean-Guy Solnon: “It is done in a fairly simple style. We find the colors of Europe with yellow and blue. We also have a broken brick wall, which represents the Berlin Wall. It evokes the reunification of Europe. And finally, the European motto with “United in Diverty”. “
Such fragile witnesses of Antiquity exhibited at the Anne-de-Beaujeu Museum in Moulins (Allier)
Also on display are paintings by graffiti artists from Spain, Germany and Switzerland that the artist himself has chosen. “We have Rosy One in particular. She is Swiss and is well known in the community. She’s got a hip-hop style. Sowat is from Marseille. He went from tagging in the subways to the Villa de Medici in Rome which is an institution in the art world. ”
“Graffiti is a codified movement,” explains Jean-Guy Solnon. From the basic rules, everyone will create their own style. “
“There is a lack of knowledge of this art even today. This is why this exhibition has an artistic and educational role ”
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Thanks to his double master’s degree in sociology and cultural development, Jean-guy Solnon produced posters retracing the history of European graffiti. “I also collaborate with the CNRS and the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations for which I do research around graffiti in Spain. “
The street artist of Moulins, Plume et lead, evokes his confinement: “I am living a social experience” (March 25, 2020)
To introduce graffiti to as many people as possible, other projects have emerged in the Allier, such as Street Art City in Lurcy-Lévis, an artists’ residence which hosts street artists from all over the world or the Funky Chiken festival. in Montluçon.
Antoine Castellet
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