The first successful exhibition devoted to Urban Art… from the walls to studios, with artists such as Gérard Zlotykamien, Lady Pink, John Fekner et Don Leicht, Jean Faucheur… encouraged Addict Galerie to get on with the panorama dedicated to a movement that takes part in contemporary Art.
If we first lighted up the work of artists that set a large variety of techniques and use diverse materials, then this time, our aim is to make people discover painters belonging to the urban landscape but practicing on canvas as well. This very approach tries to highlight the success of this art.

In this second section, the influence of graffiti is stronger as depicted by the ever-talented artists that will share the walls of the exhibition.
From the age of 13, the pioneer John Matos also known as CRASH recovers New York subways and has transposed his work on canvas from the end of the 70s. CRASH has refined his lettering relentlessly and has been substantially involvement in the progress of graffiti, dealing with it as a link between street life and the conventional society.
Originally from the Caribbean, just like his brother-in-art Jean Michel Basquiat, TOXIC lets the colour explode to express his prodigious warrior energy, his ferociousness of survivor from a lost generation, who has learnt painting from inside hostile New York subway.
DOZE GREEN, one of the forerunners of Hip-Hop Culture illustrates copiously a flaming polytheism through totems with human or animal faces, keepers of truth, warriors warning against the dangerous world.
The street and the Kawaii culture inspire Lady AIKO who portrays women whose fake romanticism hides barely their sexuality. What’s more is that ingeniousness seems to be threatened with ambient chaos.
ALEX spray-paints on canvas pieces, which have a photographic exactitude. He highlights disturbing faces of children, left behind of so-called progress.
Polymorphic artist, Boris Hoppek denounces hypocrisy, violence, racism, prostitution or pornography. He makes himself known all over the world thanks to his baby dolls used as animated characters in a famous advert promoting a car brand.
Daniel Tagno projects in one piece, letters and words distorted and designed to become nothing more than pretexts to images.
What inspires Mambo is the brain imagery in order to elaborate mental squares overwhelming with visions and emotions. The more important to him is to make one’s own story emerge through painting.
MIST, who is a sculptor as well, is fascinated by the “wild style” lettering and develops his proper writing by using acid colours and drawing his energy from the graffiti graphic codes.
Smash137 glances through a world represented by a interlace of letters, shattered words and odd assemblages.

This panorama in two parts doesn’t expect to be exhaustive about the presentation of an art spreading out more and more and in a constant renewal. An art which claims to be purely instantaneous, nothing more than a revelation about a pictorial expression that keeps on surprise us. Its only aim is to call attention to an artistic movement with an indisputable reputation.
May the institutions, the media, the collectors be convinced.

Laetitia Hecht and René Bonnell