Street Art 1: 13th Arrondissement

Walking from point A to point B in Paris is like strolling through a museum of France's artistic, cultural, and political history. Routine errands can take you to places of historic importance--the Place de la Bastille in the 4th Arr. hosts a marché every Thursday and Sunday--and past Beaux Arts, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Haussmanian, Regency and Imperial architecture. You'll also see carefully curated public artworks--principally sculptures and statues commemorating historical events, personages, classical culture, and even the ideals of the reigning monarchy, republic, or empire.

You'll also see a lot of street art--some of it professional and commissioned by building owners, some of it unsanctioned and guerrilla, and some just plain graffiti. I don't have a good definition of what street art is, except that you know it when you see it.

Below is a street art example that stopped me in my tracks a few days after arriving in Paris. I was walking outside of a Monoprix (think of if like French Target), near the Nationale metro station in the 13th Arr. when I saw it. This painting takes up the full side of a four- or five-story building.

Paris 13th Arr. street art.

At the time, this mural was mysterious. Maybe it was commissioned by the building owners. Maybe it was an advertisement for something. Someone knew, but it wasn't me. I love the grey roses, the matching cosmic gloves and buff, and especially the skull jewelry. The black apple with the G insignia is also a nice touch. I've since discovered that it's La Madre Secular II, painted in 2016 by a Chilean artist called INTI. 

It put me in mind of one of my favorite building-sized murals on Broadway in Oakland (The Hub of the West). Another indicator that I might find a home in Paris.

Oakland Broadway street art.

So that's one example of street art. By contrast, and without making any other artistic distinctions (i.e., between high vs. low, mass vs. folk, elite vs. outsider), here is some detail from one of my favorite monuments, at Place de la Nation, the 11th and 12th Arrs. meet. This is Le Triomphe de la République (1899) by Aimé-Jules Dalou, a few tons of cast bronze symbolizing ... well, the triumph of the Republic, its values, and its people over tyranny, ignorance, inequity, and scarcity.

I'm sure Le Triomphe was executed with very different ambitions than La Madre, but I like them both for the same reasons. They're big, intricate, weird, and I can appreciate them any time I want, for free, just by showing up.

Le Triomphe de la République


Comments

  1. Eric MendelsonMarch 10, 2023 at 2:49 AM

    Beautiful stuff. I wish we had public art like that here.

    ReplyDelete

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