Back in Paris for the last leg of our journey, we tracked down a lot more street art in Montparnasse and the Latin Quarter of Paris.
Interestingly, this is the work of a very famous French street artist, Jerôme Mesnager, whose signature is this figure, “White Man”. However I saw this figure in the hotel next to mine, through the window, from the street.
“Je suis sage femme” – I am midwife, an advertisement for an organization of midwifes hoping to get more recognition.
Red and white checkered top hat man.
A black and white optical illusion with a bird-type dinosaur and a woman’s face, can you see them both?
Tilted head woman.
White stencil man
Marriage equality art!
The blindfolded cat street art was super random.
The Eiffel Tower no left turn sign, classic.
The only info I can find about these guys (which are also incredibly ubiquitous) is the #squid by #gzup.
Not a squid by gzup (probably) but similar in style, a cupcake with glasses and a triangle with a leg and an eye.
“La joie est folle” – Joy is Mad, by Miss. Tic, a very famous feminist french street artist, all the pieces feature a quote, an image of a woman, and the signature. She is also a poet and was born in Mont Martre. An amazing artist who challenges the perceptions of women in society.
The Space Invaders Cometh! I had to become discriminating because let me tell you, there are parts of Paris where there is a Space Invader (real or fake) on every corner. So here are some of my favorites.
Mirror Space Invader outside the Luxembourg Garden.
THE Space Invader. Treasured enough in this neighborhood that someone put a plastic cover over it so it won’t fade.
A classic.
This was a really cool find. In the back above the graffitied van, you can see the Space Invader that this sticker is referring to. It’s also just good advice.
Not Space Invader (I’m pretty sure) but an unknown tile artist having fun with chewbakka and C3PO.
This picture has so much going on, top to bottom, the diamond, a banana, the Vadar “Vote Darkside”, a non-Space Invader tile, and a terribly faded Space Invader.
Smiley face with handguns, well known but little information about it.
The following paint splatters are definitely deliberate but something else I can’t find information on. These are also pictures I captured of people being awkward. Which is fun.
Black, white, and red crying woman’s face by Konny Steding, a mainstream artist from Berlin currently living in Paris.
Cool sticker art of unknown origin.
The existential questions I don’t really need from a barrier pole.
Tiles near the fine art school in Montparnasse. Unknown origins.
More puzzle pieces by Béa Pyl. The Motto: puzzle your life.
The work of Mister Cat, the Street Art vigilante!
“In March 2007, after ten years of clandestine work, the secret was revealed: a certain Thoma Vuille was arrested in Orleans after being caught red-handed tagging a building. He is Mister Cat. The 30 year old former fine art student runs art workshops for disadvantaged children. He cites various influences, from post-graffiti and pop art. At night he dons a mask and climbs, spray-can in hand, to balance precariously on chimneys and drainpipes.
The artist is rather eccentric, perhaps a little ‘autistic’. He has lived for the past decade on his jobseekers’ allowance. Out of tune with others, Mister Cat is perhaps Thoma’s way of communicating, or even of existing. ‘It is his social incarnation,’ says Gilles Flouret of Collectif Chat, a French organisation launched two years ago to support the project and the artist. ‘Thoma wants to be seen and recognised, but in a passive way.’
Underdeveloped ego or trendy icon, either way Thoma’s cool cat has become a pillar of ‘involuntary communication’, whose irony cuts through the jungle of advertising and sound pollution that swamps our cities. Locating Mister Cat has become an urban treasure hunt, a knowing wink against an often dull background, open to the interpretation of those that spot it, whether in one part of Paris or another, by the canal in Amsterdam or even on New York’s Seventh Avenue.” -Learn more at http://www.cafebabel.co.uk/culture/article/mister-cat-graffiti-from-paris-to-sarajevo.html
Paw prints and sitting stencil matadors.
Stencil sitting matadors“Le Diamantaire” -The diamond dealer. The motto: “Search your reflection”.
Butt Naked Travels 