Rouen and Street Art

Street Art or Urban Art is a contemporary artistic movement developed in the late 20th century. This ephemeral art, originally illegal and submersive, is an effectivemode of artistic expression. Made in the street and on the walls of public space, street art aims to be art displayed in the open and accessible to a wide audience.

It was in the 1960s, in the United States and more specifically in Philadelphia, that street art appeared. Cornbread and Cool Earl, two American artists, launch the first movement “Graffiti writing”. It is the story of a shy boy who does not dare to admit his feelings to a classmate. To succeed in expressing what he feels, he decides to write everywhere in his neighborhood “Cornbread Loves Cynthia”.

From this story was born a new art form, 10 years later, in New York. Great names of American Street Art emerge: Taki 183, Keith Haring or even Blade One. In the street, the smallest plot is covered with demanding messages on the sexual revolution, racial tensions, politics, civil rights…

From the 1980s, Urban Art develops in France with Blek le rat and Jérôme Mesnager as pioneers.

Vandal art, Street Art provokes, shocks and moves. For all that, we don’t always pay attention to this outdoor art which can hold many beautiful surprises.

To help you, we will present the different types of works and techniques that you can encounter within the urban space:

• The tags: they take the form of signatures whose calligraphy is worked sometimes even to the extreme. They also called lettering.
• The graffiti: they are drawings made from a spray can, a marker or a stencil.
• The frescoes: they are made with a spray can, brush, roller or stencil and can reach large sizes.
• The collages: these works are usually made of paper.
• The stencils: they are cardboard or metal dies used to reproduce drawings.
• The stickers: this is to publish an image or message using stickers.
• The urban diversions: they aim to use the existing such as urban furniture or wall textures to create real works.

Rouen has seen the growth of many artists such as LKSIR, Dhoa, Méthod Graphic, Padame, Ise, Gaspard Lieb, Liz Ponio, Fklt!, Madcow or even Ecloz. Several collectives bring together local artists such as the collective Le Chevalet Noir.

Thus, the presence of these street artists allows the desire of personalities in the field, nationally or internationally renowned, to place their works on the walls of the Rouen streets. We can indeed find works by Fred le Chevalier, by Jef Aerosol or even by Mister P.

Street art has the vocation of being ableto be, both everywhere, and very discreet at the same time. Toadmire the urban works of these artists in the Rouen Normandy Metropolis, you have to look up,get lost in the small streets of the cities and town centers or go to the most famous “spots” of the Norman capital.

All of the works created as part of Rouen impressed can now be found on the festival website. There we find the courses of the 2020 edition, virtual strolls between the Saint-Sever and Grammont neighborhoods, but also some frescoes from the 2016 edition, made at Les Sapins or even on Hangar 23.

The great value of Street Art lies in the fact that it is very often ephemeral. On a daily basis, the streets get dressed with new works andothers fade away leaving nice memories to the passers-by.