Who the F is… C215?
C215 wants you to stop and take a look at what is in front of you. It may be a trash can, or a sidewalk, or maybe an alley you slide your gaze over because you don’t want to make eye contact with your not-so-friendly neighborhood bums, but it is precisely this side of street life that artist C215 wants you to see.
French artist C215, aka Christian Guémy, travels the globe painting that which modern society fails to see. He captures people and life, and expresses it in painstakingly wrought detail. His art is a riot of colour and contrast, expressed on the dirtiest of canvases. It’s raw, it’s authentic, and it’s outside barriers. C215 is a street artist in a time when being a street artist is sadly becoming as “cool” as wearing tight jeans and ironic Urban Outfitters shirts. It’s a situation that he often laments in interviews, stating “It could be good but if artists continue to do it in the streets. Many are now so busy with galleries that they forget the streets…”
C215 executes his visions using only stencils and good timing. When asked why stencils, he explains, “I [have] been in love with graffiti since I was a child. Sure I did draw, paint free hand, with brushes, with cans, but stencils are the best way to quick place something beautiful anywhere in the streets, without any fucking authorization.” Hellz yeah. Sticking it to “the Man” while creating something amazing and beautiful? I know jack all about art, but I do know one thing: that kind of attitude is pure awesomeness.
Great article! I thought sticking it to the man was fun until the day I woke up and realized I AM the man!!! LOL, just kidding–things would be a lot different if that were true. I don’t know much about art either (except what I like), but I do know that if we allow others to become invisible, we lose a part of ourselves too.