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The city of Loan in Northern France has just wrapped up its first street art festival, Festival d’art Urbain de Laon. Organised by Ville de Laon and curated by Christian Guemy (aka artist C215), the city invited sixteen international street artists to paint fourteen monumental murals in the Champagne and Montreuil districts of the medieval town.
Artists invited included Speedy Graphito Alexone madame Collin van der Sluijs Satr Jorge Gerada Shoof Isaac Cordal Iemza Sema Lao Bebar MonkeyBird Logan Hicks and Zabou
“On the sea, in the colours of Ukraine, a woman holds her child in her arms… symbol of all the women of Ukraine who have come to find peace here” C215
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Bébar mural is “totally abstract, very aquatic, very oval, very colourful.“
Alexone always lets the paint guide him…
Isaac cordal “adds new neighbors to the city of Laon.”
Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada paints in his signature style a half portrait of his son with a “play” touch that evokes the development of life in the world and invites us to question the effects of children viewing their world through the ‘play’ symbol. The tones that run across the face encompass many skin tones to depict the universal effects of social media, its algorithms and viral video. The goal of this mural is to talk about how children are seeing this world through a mobile phone from such a young age, as it becomes more evident that parents use the screen as a new pacifier without considering the effects on a young developing mind. The piece invites us to reflect on this phenomenon and its impact on society.
Logan Hicks paints a piece to be connected to the city of Laon at night.
When Laon Cathedral meets Reims Cathedral. Street artist IEMZA creates a very fun, colourful representation of the history of the two cathedrals.
Collin van der Sluijs paints scenes of nature in cities, and in Laon he paints the blackbird singing to make her voice heard over the buildings.
French collage artist Madame writes the city’s legends through her collage paste-ups.
French artists MonkeyBird are known for their intricate stencils, and for Festival d’art Urbain de Laon, they include the monkey and bird.
“Breathing is the most natural acts, no need to be deliberate at all. Breathe in, breathe out. Slow down the beast inside you, learn to calm yourself in spite of all the disturbances outside. ” Satr
SATR draws a Caracal who meditates, exhales, inhales… and learns to calm down despite the turbulence of the outside world.
Séma Lao paints her portraits of a grandmother and her grandchild titled WATER OF LIFE.
Shoof works with Arabic calligraphy and bases his mural on the foundation of life… love.
Speedy Graphito paints “an image based on pixel cells to talk about addictions to new technologies and the evolution of the world …“
British street artist Zabou paints “Summertime”, a portrait of Jaya lying in the grass, the sunshine and daydreaming.
Photo courtesy of Festival d’art urbain de Laon.
