PARIS – Paris is experiencing a colourful splash of Olympic creative spirit with nearly 30 vibrant street art works appearing on the walls of busy metro stations, a large billboard at the airport and in front of City Hall.
One of them shows a drawing of French fencer Ysaora Thibus in action. Another shows canoeists paddling down the Seine. Several others show people having fun in a busy neighborhood. The original artworks have been distributed throughout Paris and other nearby host cities around the Olympic and Paralympic Games venues.
“At the time of the Olympics, there is a lot of energy and people come from all over the world,” says JonOne, a New York native who has lived in Paris for three decades and is considered a graffiti pioneer in the street art world. He is one of six renowned street artists from four continents whose works can currently be seen in train stations, airports, taxis, digital screens and billboards.
The artists were selected as part of a campaign initiated by Visa to support small businesses and come from France (Marko 93 and Olivia De Bona), Brazil (Alex Senna), Australia (Vexta) and the USA (Swoon).
“Why not use street art?” asked JonOne, 60, whose artwork can be found in several places in Paris, including the Palais Royal–Musée du Louvre station. It took five collaborators two months to complete the blue, white and red graffiti in an abstract expressionist style, which covers 250 square meters of wall at the busy station.
“It exudes a lot of energy and youth culture,” he said. “It’s a good time to show our artwork.”
The campaign was conceived as an open-air exhibition and curated by Nicolas Laugero Lasserre, an expert in urban art. The 28 original artworks will remain on display until September 8th.
“Just like top athletes, artists share values such as tolerance, open-mindedness, questioning and self-transcendence,” said Lasserre, who has organized more than 50 exhibitions with public and private institutions, including an exhibition at Paris City Hall. “The combination of art and sport is one of the cornerstones of Olympism.”
Each creation highlights the spirit of the neighbourhoods – such as Saint-Denis, Montmartre and Rue Montorgueil – and captures the vibrancy of the cafés, bookstores and shops that have become an essential part of Paris and the wider Ile-de-France region. They can also be found at the airports of Lille, Lyon and Marseille, where some Olympic events are taking place.
“We asked the artists to show us their version of Paris as authentically as possible,” said Juan Arturo Herrera, business economist and marketing manager at Visa International, who carried the Olympic flame over a 200-meter course in eastern France last month.
“Street art is the most accessible art form,” he said. “It’s universal. We’ve seen it in cities for decades. It’s found its way into museums and we wanted to bring it back out. We see this as the largest exhibition of open-air art in public space.”
De Bona, a Parisian, is proud to present her artwork to her hometown, her family and visitors from around the world.
“It was so moving,” she said. “I see how art makes my city so beautiful. It’s a privilege to represent France in front of all the people who come to Paris from all over the world.”
De Bona, 39, remembers the time when street art and graffiti were not yet accepted by the masses, but she has now witnessed a positive change in perception and within the industry, which was once dominated by men.
“People need pictures on the street,” she said. “Art needs to be welcomed. We are the bridge between people who think art doesn’t belong in the museum. We bring art to the people. This is our way of expressing ourselves and existing.”
Marko 93 said his passion for street art made him stand up against the words of skeptics. From a young age, he was fascinated by the development of graffiti during the hip-hop era of the 1980s in New York, which he called the “promised land” of graffiti.
“It’s about perseverance,” said the 51-year-old during his live performance, in which he painted a fencer on the Seine. “Art is also about perseverance. This passion drives us to go further and go beyond our limits.”
JonOne would welcome the idea of the arts being reintroduced as a competition at the Olympic Games one day.
Art competitions were first held at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm. At that time, medals were awarded in five categories: architecture, literature, music, painting and sculpture. The International Olympic Committee ended the competitions at the 1948 Games, and an attempt to reinstate them was rejected four years later.
“Artists are like athletes too,” JonOne said. “I respect basketball players and runners. Art is not really a sport, but it should be part of the Olympics. Just surviving as an artist is an Olympic discipline.”
___
AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
