Walking in Paris - Street Art Edition

One of the reasons I wanted to go to Paris was the art. A long time fan of Impressionism, Cubism, Abstraction and Expressionism I could not wait to delve into the museums to finally see first hand the art I have admired for so long from books and the interweb. Are the works of Klee, Matisse, Cezanne, Monet, Degas, Modigliani, Picasso, Miro, and Kandinsky as miraculous in person as they seem? The answer is, of course they are.

But in pursuit of the sublime we found ourselves continually charmed by the street art that we encountered wherever we went.

Clicking on each picture will open it up in a new tab.



The artist at work in Montmartre.
































































A trapeze artist swinging from a water pipe.

























We happened upon this 3 story high tree and accompanying poem in the Latin Quarter. I fed the words into 6 different web translators and combined the results to come up with this (paraphrased) translation:



Pay attention
to this great tree
because through him, it may be enough.

Even though it is torn and dirty,
this tree of the street,
it encompasses all of nature, the sky,
the bird that settles here, the wind that moves through it,
the sun which greets it with the same hope in spite of death

Philosopher
if perchance you have such a tree on your street
your thoughts will be less troubled,
your eyes more free,
your hand less drawn to the dark.























































































































This was a great bit of art almost wasted on a bus shelter. The artist took the iconic imagery created by Toulouse-Lautrec and overlaid it with a collage of fashion shots from a 1950s clothing catalog.

































































These next two shots are from a photo exhibit along the Seine. While not technically 'street art' it was refreshing to see art embraced and displayed in a public setting.




















I totally dig the center image of the female form expressed in welder's beads, though I can imagine Americans freaking out over such pictures should anyone dare try to display them in public in this country. How did we devolve to such prudery and fear of our own human vessels?








The following are from a booth at a flea market. I don't know if the seller was also the artist, but the pieces all have the same stylized look to them with a thematic mockery of Maoism. I love the bawling schoolgirl and femme fatale with the MIG-25 jet soaring over her shoulder

























































Graffiti on the Place de la Concorde, near the Musée de l'Orangerie. The Monet exhibit therein was amazing, but so was this bit of hand painted typography. Much thought went into this, which translates roughly into: to be astonished is an honor.

and so it is...