Vermibus, Ceniza Y Sed, Solvent on Original Advertising Poster, 120 x 170cm, 2015 – © OPEN WALLS Gallery 2015, Courtesy Private Collection – Paris
We’re counting down the days until the inauguration of Urban Art Fair, the first fair of this kind in Paris. We’re looking very much forward to this event, not only because it will be a unique, exhilarating experience, but also because it will provide OPEN WALLS Gallery with a privilege to present Vermibus‘ works in an engaging environment that offers wholehearted support to urban art. Everything related to the occasion looks and sounds amazing, starting from the list of exhibitors (such as galerie du jour agnès b, Galerie Burgier-Rigail, The Garage from Amsterdam etc.), down to each detail of the fair, including the additional events, the anthological exhibition curated by Magda Danysz, a documentary film screening (Girl Power), and finally the venue – Le Carreau du Temple, whose elegant architecture interacts with the exhibited material in a fresh, contemporary manner.
Left: SIT, Courtesy Kallenbach Gallery, Amsterdam / Right: Jonone – Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité. Présenté par Editions Lézarts Urbains
The First Urban Art Fair in Paris
Having in mind that France has a lot of remarkable artists closely related to Street Art and Urban Art, it sounds incredible that they actually did not have an Urban Art Fair before. Just think about Levalet, Ludo, Remed, JonOne, to mention a few. Well, it is finally happening, and it will perhaps even exceed your expectations, which are probably already high. The first edition of the fair, specialized and devoted exclusively to Urban Art, will gather around 30 international galleries. The aim is to reflect on the practice comprehensively, and also to raise some new questions related to it. The fair will truly be celebrating Urban Art, especially by providing a historical insight into Street Art and Urban Art, terms which are often interchangeable. The organizers were careful about ensuring both quality and diversity, by delving into the subject from various aspects.
Marc C. Woehr, Relief Wall, 2014. Presented by Urban Art Gallery, Stuttgart
Unique Approach
As much as Urban Art lovers enjoy the aesthetics and the visual aspects of the subculture, we all know that Urban Art is often politically or socially engaged, aiming to raise awareness on various topics. Therefore, the fair is not exclusively based on exhibiting. It will also include some very admirable and productive additional events. In order to be as thorough as possible, the organizers have invited a few notable speakers, who are true experts in this field. Two critics and independent curators, Fabiola Naldi and Claudio Musso, are involved in the project, and they will be conducting open talks, in addition to the fair. The discussions will be held by speakers coming from different backgrounds: Kool Koor, Martha Cooper, Toxic, Henry Chalfant, Nicolas Laugero-Lassere, Henri Thuaud, Andrea Pizzi, Good Guy Boris and Jacob Kimvall. The talks will take place on April 23rd, and you can expect the topics to be related to: the history of graffiti, as seen through photography; Urban Art in relation to the market; frontier of the law; and Urban Art between public spaces and the Internet.
Open Walls at Urban Art Fair
Open Walls gallery is delighted to be a part of the event, representing Vermibus and his Unveiling Beauty series, which marked the artist’s practice and made it recognizable in any context. Vermibus will once again showcase the fruitful results of his work, which bring to light the issues related to the artificial beauty, produced and reinforced by fashion industries. Like many of his fellow artists, who are to be presented, Vermibus questions the collective passive approach to everything suggested by advertisers.