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PARIS – ‘A lovely simple Cat’ Mural – C215


Demian Smith und Fotograf Théo David haben uns einen Artikel und Fotos zum neuen ‘A lovely simple Cat’ Murals von Stencil Artist C215 (5 MINUTES) gesendet! Die Arbeit wurde von Christian wurde erst Anfang der Woche in der französischen Hauptstadt fertiggestellt!

Art for art’s sake? Yes, but not only. Sometimes art makes everything look so much more beautiful and it needs help to be shared.

French world famous street artist C215, who just finished an amazing 25m high wall in Boulevard Vincent Auriol (Paris 75013), managed to find a perfect balance between painting for himself and do paintings for the public.

The wall was commissioned by the Mairie of the 13th arrondissement in Paris who recently launched the project “Le Parcours Street Art du 13e” (Street Art Itinerary in the 13th arrondissement) in collaboration with Galerie Itinerrance, the gallery representing C215.

After having had Shepard Fairey, Inti and other bigs of the street art scene painting walls around the neighbourhood, it was the time of C215 who decided to paint a simple cat.

“A lovely simple cat” as the artist said.

“I decided to make it simple, I love making simple things, it’s a lifestyle. I wanted the cat to become the cat of the neighbourhood; I wanted people to be happy when they see him from the metro, to love him. I hope soon people will say: let’s meet at the cat!.”

The predominant colour of the work is blue, because blue is the artist’s favourite colour, the colour of the sky. Why a cat? Because the cat is the symbol of freedom, and freedom is what artists seek. Having to paint in public for an organized event, with professional photographers taking pictures of you, is not the most interesting experience, the artist said.

“Graffiti is not a performance, I would prefer listening to live music and see people dancing rather than watching someone painting a wall”. “I paint for myself, but I do paintings for people. When I paint, he said, I’m not there, I’m nowhere. I don’t pay attention to what happens around me. That’s why I prefer painting small size works, because I only need to focus for few minutes, and in those few minutes I am completely alone.”

Painting by commission becomes part of the game when you are as famous as C215. But there’s more, the secret is to find the right balance. And apparently C215 found it.

The artist explained us the importance in his artistic life of doing street art for street people. He mentioned his recent experience in Haiti, where he painted portraits inspired by the locals all over the city of Port-au-Prince. The results are astonishing and his palette so colourful. “It was a unique personal experience, he said, I went there with a friend, I was invited by Aude Hulot member of the local cultural association KASAV. It was a week of painting and nothing more. Painting there was an intense and inspiring experience, people were very curious to see my work”.

Now the artist, who just got back from his travelling in Europe, will take a break and spend some time with Nina, his daughter, muse, the most recurring character of his work.

Artist: C215
Location: Boulevard Vincent Auriol (Paris 75013)
Artikel: underground-paris.org
Photos: Théo David copyright 2013

5 MINUTES WITH: C215