street art

After feasting on what had become our customary lunch fare in Paris—a Mixte sandwich (ham and cheese on a baguette), frites, and a bottle of red wind—at a café near the Sacré-Cœur Basilica, we stumbled upon a humble, inviting gallery just a few feet down the narrow street. As we stepped inside L’art de Rien (translation: The Art of Nothing), an Orwellian aura enveloped the gallery. A alarming warning—”Big Brother Is Watching You”—appeared everywhere. The exhibition (curated by Isabelle Lebre) consisted mainly of posters by various artists, ranging from overtly political to humorously absurd, but also included videos, sculptures and other forms. Spurred on by government plans to install more than a thousand surveillance cameras throughout the city by 2012, the 1984-inspired exhibition extended beyond the gallery, as a group of a dozen artists put up posters in place of the hundred or so proposed CCTV cameras in the 18th arrondissement, where the L’art de Rien is located. “The goal is not to condemn, but to think,” Lebre said.

In Amsterdam, if you find yourself facing a difficult decision, a should-I-or-shouldn’t-I situation, the answer is always simple and always the same: “Why not!” [Click the photo to view larger in new window.]

This random scene along Canal Saint-Martin, comprised of disparate pieces of street art that together form a kooky-but-compelling composition, possessed a sort of magnetism, as Jimi Hendrix keeps a watchful eye on two foxy, albeit alien, ladies. [Click the photo to view larger in new window.]

We seemed to walk through Trafalgar Square at least once or twice a day during our stay in London. One Friday morning we passed an artist recreating Sandro Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus—using paint and brushes, of all things—on the sidewalk (or some medium laid out on it) outside of the National Gallery. Amidst the constant threat posed by heavy foot traffic, the artist had finished the painstakingly detailed piece when we returned several hours later. The result: a surprisingly accurate and altogether remarkable reproduction of an iconic image. [Click the photo to view larger in new window.]

Global warming is a real threat, according to this anti-establishment piece of street art in Amsterdam.

A building in Amsterdam goes “Boom” with the help of some Lichtenstein-inspired street art. [Click the photo to view larger in new window.]

We purchased our tickets a few months in advance, and now only a few hours of anticipation remained until we saw Modest Mouse. But before we headed to the Melkweg in Amsterdam for the show on Sept. 7, we came upon these rodents: neither mice nor modest. And to think, this wasn’t even the Red Light District. At this moment the paint was still wet, as the artist set up another stencil on another side of this temporary construction wall. As for Modest Mouse and the big show, the band rocked through a wisely crafted setlist, which included—as the sixth song of the night—“King Rat.”

I immediately fell in love with this large painting—mural really—covering an entire wall of an approximately two-story building on Quai de Valmy along Canal Saint-Martin in Paris. Fun and colorful, this seductive wallflower isn’t trying to sell anything, but she certainly makes one want to recline near the peaceful canal on a warm, sunny afternoon (like on September 14) with drink in hand. [Click the photo to view larger in new window.]

I spent the first two weeks of September abroad, exploring the sights and sounds of three amazing cities: Paris, Amsterdam and London. Not surprisingly, much of the trip (if not all of it) revolved around various forms of art. Each day and night of the journey was filled with all kinds of discoveries—small and large, planned and unexpected, inspiring and entertaining, captivating and exciting.

From paintings, music and theater to architecture, culinary arts and books, art comprised the itinerary: wandering the magnificent and seemingly endless rooms of the Louvre; watching a Shakespeare comedy come to life, as if written just a few weeks prior for HBO, on the banks of the Thames; experiencing an intimate live performance by Modest Mouse in Amsterdam; browsing the shelves of the legendary Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris; spotting some comical or thought-provoking street art; stumbling upon an alternative art gallery on a side street in the City of Light; spending some quality time with the likes of Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Kandinsky, Rembrandt, Warhol, Dali, Matisse, Gauguin, Miró, and Picasso while discovering so many others at Musée d’Orsay, Tate Modern and Musée national d’art moderne at Centre Pompidou.

The Madness of Art will feature these delightful discoveries, artistic encounters and inspiring experiences through daily photographic installments in a series titled “Art Abroad” (using mostly original photos I took on the trip, except for memorable pieces I want to share from museums that prohibited cameras). Hope you enjoy the daily tour through the streets and museums of Paris, Amsterdam and London these next few weeks.