Paris Street Art : Spencer Elzey in Europe

November 19, 2013 Artists

As we continue our one week residency on BSA for Street Art fan Spencey Elzey, he takes you to Paris to see what is happening on the street there right now. If you were to try to characterize the nature of the work, you may say that it favors illustration, a clean defined line, and a purposeful classical aesthetic.

For years we have associated the romantic city and it’s historical culture and architecture with Street Artists like the stencil pioneers Blek Le Rat and Jef Aerosol, along with Miss Tic, Invader, FKDL, Fred Chevaliar, C215, and Alice Pasquini, to name just a few. Spencer finds some of those artists’ work and and he shares some others here with you too. Naturally, because we don’t cover this city regularly, locals will surely tell you that some of these pieces are a couple of years old, but for an American tourist in Paris, it all looks new from here!

Jana & Js. Detail. (photo © Spencer Elzey)

“It did feel like there was some form of respect for the older architecture, especially in Paris,” says Spencer when comparing his observations of Paris, Berlin, and London. “While all three cities are old (especially compared to NYC), Paris feels the oldest and there seems to be certain buildings or doors that remained untouched.” Maybe that’s why we always think Paris is romantic. Also, Edith Piaf.

Speaking of romance we begin the image survey with two current giants on the Paris scene Jana und JS, who are a collaborating Street Art couple who basically bonded over their mutual love for shooting images. Advocates of photography on the street, you will find they’ve also an affinity for spray paint and stencils and their subject often is themselves. It’s rather a marriage made for the street. You can read a full interview with them here on Street Art Paris.

Jana & Js. Detail. (photo © Spencer Elzey)

“Walking around Paris I also found myself looking up a lot more as compared to other cities; while this was mostly due to the fact that I was looking out for the 100’s of Space Invader pieces, there were lots of other pieces stuck to the walls up high. I thought it was also notable that the walls within the metro tunnels between stations were covered with graffiti in Paris.”

“Paris has street art defined to a few areas specifically,” explains Elzey, “including some of the murals in the 13^th arrondissement that were put together by Galerie Itinerrance, a few areas up around Belleville, and areas throughout Le Marais, which includes sections of the 3^rd and 4^th arrondissements.”

Jana & Js. Detail. (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Jana & Js. (photo © Spencer Elzey)

C215 (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Finabarr DAC (photo © Spencer Elzey)

ETHOS (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Ella & Pitr. Detail. (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Clet Abraham (photo © Spencer Elzey)

A large wall by the Chilean Street Artist Inti (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Shadeek (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Alexis Diaz (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Shepard Fairey (photo © Spencer Elzey)

RERO (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Invader (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Not Invader. Megamatt. (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Daco (photo © Spencer Elzey)

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