Curated by Oxana Bondarenko (Russia – France), coordinator – Fabrice De Pontfrache (France)

The exhibition is held within a Year Russia-France 2010

Group international exhibition (Russia – France)

French street art

Opening – July 3, 19.00

YZ «STILL ALIVE»

MEL Gallery, Bolotnaya emb., 5, «Red October»

July 10  – August 1

Artists: Adek (France), L'Atlas (France), C 215 (France), Jana&Jus (France – Austria), YZ (France), ZEVS (France)

The objective of the “ No limits in the street “ exhibition is to show to  the outside countries what the actual French Street Art is. As it is very diversified in it’s form, style and influences, it is hard to resume it with the creations of only one and unique artist. This is how YZ, C215, Jana und Js, L'Atlas, Zevs, Olivier Kosta-Thefaine and Adek’s will be representing the French urban scene. Even though they are heterogeneous artist, they all find a common point in their working support : the street . Posters, stencils, graffiti, or installations, every artists make up their own project by integrating in the urban space.  They all have the same goal : let the public enjoy there pieces of art and share their vision of the evolution of the actual society.

ZEVS / Zevs (pronounced Zeus) is considered to be one of the most important figures of the current French street art movement. Since the nineties he has been known for his urban art style, especially in Paris, Berlin, New York and Hong Kong. From the street curbs of the city to the walls of the gallery, he is responding to urban signs and consumption codes, questioning the public space and the relationship between art and consumption. The artist name ZEVS has been chosen after the name of a regional train in Paris called the RER A "ZEUS" that almost hit him while he was doing graffiti in 1992. www.gzzglz.com

L’ATLAS / L'ATLAS is a french artist born in France in 1978. He starts to do Graffiti in the 90's. Fascinated with the line and writing’s work, he goes to study traditional Arabic calligraphy in Morocco, Egypt and Syria. He takes special interest in the Kufi, a geometric calligraphy which he transposes the codes in the Latin alphabet, creating its own typography.He works for a while in the cinema industry, learning the techniques of montage, and directs few documentaries. Stronger with his experience and without stopping his interventions in the street, he develops a pictorial universe where each letter is considered as a shape, and every shape as a letter. Little by little, the city itself appears to him loaded with signs whose he collects the almost abstract trail, with some printing system. He lives and works in Belleville, Paris.. www.latlas.net

C215 / And after he directed about fifteen collective expositions, C215 made his own production by creating stencils in complex ways and his very own style. His main interest goes to the excluded, wonderers, children, orphans in which he finds connections to himself. His favorite model is his five year old daughter, Nina.. www.fotolog.com/c215/60595906

JANA und JS / Jana & Js are the Austrian-French couple of stencil-artists working together since 2006. The main theme of their work is urban visuals. They draw on the walls of the buildings (often abandoned) that play games with the viewers by  modifying the urban space with mirror reflection like images. www.janaundjs.com

OLIVIER KOSTA-THEFAINE / In each of his interventions, Olivier Kosta-Théfaine plays with the codes and clichés of popular culture. He uses the languages and codes of the city and its suburbs, changing or modifying their original meaning so it can be understood by a broader public. His reflection is essentially based in rehabilitating the, often deconsidered, elements that belong to the city. www.olivierkostathefaine.com

ADEK / In the childhood Adek secretly painted murals in the streets where he lived on the outskirts of Paris Adek had his first exhibition at the respected Gallerie Chappe in Paris, in June 2009. The public appetite for his particular style of graffiti art – informed by his immigrant roots fused with the old cultural traditions of his birth country and combined with his fascination for American popular culture, especially from the 60s and 70s, being evident in his work – proved to be voracious in that it was a sell-out show. Adek now has his own studio and is working towards a second show, to be announced at a later date this year. www.ramziadek.com

Within the graffiti art exhibition «No limits in the street»:

YZ

Video-graffiti object

July 9 –  August 1

Opening – July 9, 18.00

Curated by Oxana Bondarenko (Russia – France)

Coordinator – Fabrice De Pontfrache (France)

YZ / Today, YZ works with paint and film, but her earliest creative inklings involved clay.  Spreading from the Congo and Mali, to Hong Kong, Germany, and New York, YZ says, “Any place where I’ve painted has been a great experience. Each place has been different and unforgettable: the reaction of the people in Bamako, the size of the painting in Berlin, the location in New York, or the history and impact of Brazzaville.” YZ isn’t content to rest on her laurels. When she’s not bombing, she creates documentaries and video art of urban environments. In the future, she’d like to combine her varied interests into a large-scale piece. www.open.your.eyes.fr

Lecture by Magda Danysz (France) dedicated to the history of street art and presentation of monograph

«From Style Writing to Art»

July 7, 19.00

Strelka Institute For Media, Architecture And Design, Bersenevskaya emb., 14, bld. 5А

Sponsored by «Veda», MODUL Group, MONTANA, Strelka Design