They are artists, designers, street artists, they work plexiglass or stencil and they have one thing in common: they have lost their work space, a large space, the street, the world. Faced with this unprecedented situation, in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic, these street artists are managing their new working and living conditions as best as possible.
Polarbear's works have adorned the walls of the capital for ten years. His stencil silhouettes are well known to lovers of Parisian street art.
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Marianne ……… When the police force, gas, bludgeon and injure firefighters who demonstrate for better working conditions, you tell yourself that everything is fine in this country ... "Hit hard to get them through "want to start again" were the instructions of the Paris police headquarters. 😡😡😡 Welcome to France! ……… #streetart #polarbearstencils #polarbear #stencil #pencil #pencil #urbanart #stencilart #streetart_daily #wallart #streetarteverywhere #welovestreetart #jj_urbanart #total_urbanart #streetartparis #parisstreetart #collage #pasteup #marianence #france #france #france #france
A post shared by - Polarbear - (@polarbearstencils) on Oct 16, 2019 at 8:53 am PDT
Faced with confinement, the artist had to reinvent himself. "We had to find other solutions to share our art, since we can no longer access the street of course, but also our workshops", says Polabear from his home, where he repatriated some of his equipment : spray paint and printing equipment.
At first, the street painter was a little confused. “It's more complicated when you're not in the workshop. The workshop is cool, the apartment is boring, ”laughs Polarbear. And then, he resumed work in perspective of "deconfinement".
At the same time, the awareness of having to help his neighbor pushed him to participate in an initiative launched by another street artist: Imaginary Friend. Provide the public with street art to color for the youngest, but also for the grown-ups.
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And the initiative has had some success. “A lot of street artists have joined the platform. Lots of pretty cool returns. It is released in creation. It's a very interesting approach, ”he says.
Live painting
In this context, Polarbear discovered a new way to practice its art. That Friday, for a charity work, he painted live in his building courtyard. “It's called the Saato Project. We are about forty artists, we make a live work to be sold for the benefit of the emergency fund of hospitals in Paris ”, he says.
Finally, since confinement, he has not been unemployed, quite the contrary. “The work I painted on Friday, I cut it at home. I need to paint and I don't just model on the computer, ”he says. I have already finished two projects which took me almost 40 hours in two weeks ”.
Without a release date, the painter, who also works on salvage materials, has the bombs that tickle him. "It starts slowly. The street is starting to itch. As soon as we can, we will make a collective transfer, ”he laughs. Some street artists like C215 have already promised frescoes in tribute to the victims of the Covid-19.
"I decided to create positive installations"
Pierre Brault, for his part, works with plexiglass and light. That is to say that the city's space is his playground. He has in particular chained artistic direction projects with Courrèges or Zadig and Voltaire. But, faced with confinement, he too was naked.
“I found myself without my workshop, with no means of producing. I do a lot of my installations in volume. I thought moving to 3D was a good way to stay in touch with people, especially via social media. ” Thus it reclaims the urban space virtually.
“I decided to create positive installations with messages. Stay Home, Stay Safe… I continue on this momentum. I could adapt them in the urban space ”, enthuses the young artist who has the wind in his sails. "I take this opportunity to create from my computer. It worked well for the latest installations , 5.3 million views for the first and 2.6 million for the second "on the Instagram platform 9Gag.
"Give life anyway in the urban space"
Faced with the gloom caused by the coronavirus crisis, Pierre wants to be a herald with positive speech. “It is above all a colorful and luminous message, a message of life. The idea is to give life anyway in the urban space ”, specifies the one whose 3D installations have caught the eye of several large investors.
“There is also an ecological dimension. These are signs that are made of recycled plexiglass. The concept is to return to a slow life rhythm, to find healthier weather through the path of the sun which makes the message readable, ”he analyzes.
“Constraint pushes the limits as an artist. This constraint obliges us to adapt and to go further ”, still thinks Pierre Brault. For him, it is an exceptional opportunity to communicate about his art. "The gallery is becoming interactive, it is a large gallery on a global scale", concludes the designer. This is also the new world of containment. And in the future, he even plans to use a drone!