Immersion in the hotel 128; the heart of Street Art City!

I propose you to continue this journey in the heart of Street Art City with the discovery of Hotel 128! Immersion out of time, in this hotel or rather dormitory. The place is of course raw, without light, unheated, a bit Urbex and each of the rooms was invested by one of the artists in residence. If you took the trip “en route”, I advise you to read my first article on this unique place before attacking this special visit 😉

And if you ask me if the 8 euros to enter the Hotel 128 are worth seeing; I let you discover the answer in pictures!

 

The Hotel 128 an extraordinary experience!

If you have not experienced the era of artist squats, like the eye of the Cyclone or the Ephemeral Hospital in Paris; you will be able to live this experience here! Visiting the Hotel 128 has moved away from street Street Art and get into the intimacy of the artists. Moreover, some rooms are closer to the world of “installation” that could be found at the Palais de Tokyo or MOMA. It is therefore wearing a headlamp that I will begin this exploration with you! I chose 10 artists including those who touched me the most and also those you can not imagine being at Street Art City because they live far away from this beautiful countryside! Let’s go!

The room of the refused a monumental slap offered by ASIER!

I do not tell you the feeling when entering this room 94! Looks of migrants, refugees, expatriates are turned to you; the moment is striking. The musty smell of the room is penetrating and the feeling of not being at your place is very strange. This is precisely what ASIER wanted to do, this Spanish artist has just reversed the roles … These faces are those of the people you usually watch on the television installed on your couch. And there you find yourself surrounded by these people forced to leave their homes, their families, their country, their history to try to save their lives. I think you just understand it … This visit to the hotel 128 is strong in sensations!

Tangy Pop’art for a slightly lighter message by Tavin Davis

When we enter room 65 called “Like me, like me, like me”, we feel like a little wind of freshness that quickly turns into questioning. This young American artist from Montana uses the acidic codes of pop art and icons like Marilyn Monroe to criticize American society as well as the use we make of social networks. Tavin Davis is not a well-known artist; but he’s already copied a lot!

Fishtopia by Kid Pencil: the kingdom of the crazy fish!

This room 47 made by Kid Crayon an illustrator Bristol is crazy! Fish plays with paper planes, sings and has fun! The fish paradise! This artist is used to situate characters of everyday life in extraordinary situations. It seems that for Street Art City his characters have turned into fish! On the only “human” character we recognize very well the style of the artist who comes from the world of 2D animation. I selected this artist because he paints only very rarely in France; but rather in England and Germany; so I was more than surprised to find him here and even more to see that his characters were sea creatures for the most part …

Make it new! A room painted in music by Ana Fernandes

When I opened the door of room 50, invested by Ana Fernandes, Franco-Portuguese artist; I found the atmosphere very soothing. I did not know if it was because of the blue that reminded me of Greece, soft faces, a very pleasant general atmosphere emerges from her work … Large slats of plastics fall and offer a look at the superposition of drawings and an impression of depth in this small space. I read that this artist had the peculiarity of making her works by letting herself be led by the music she listened to … Personally I would opt for Jazz with the sound of small waves in the background. But maybe you’ll have another idea than me about music!

Enigmatic and scary; this room made by Nosbe is a world apart!

Usually I am not too sensitive to this type of work; but here the level of detail is impressive! The accumulation of drawings in the drawing; walls and ceilings covered with enigmatic and sometimes gloomy characters impressed me. I had the feeling of being in the cage of a parallel universe! And when I think this room is called “Welcome,” it make me smile. As you have seen Nosbe, French artist, focuses on the development of enigmatic and obsessive compositions mixing chimeras, faces, plants and organic forms. We find his work on many walls in France, in wasteland and also on objects.

The palm of femininity of Hotel 128 returns to Rachel Bergeret for her room Freedom!

What a breath during this visit to go into this ultra-girlyroom, even magical! The character of Rachel Bergeret, a visual artist Parisienne, is precisely very Parisian. This creature escaped from the Lido or other cabaret is ultra-feminized with lashes and nails endless. She has a pinch of Haute Couture representing really well the universe of the artist. It’s gold, it’s pink, .. and then there’s this inscription telling you that the character may not be so frivolous as you thought. I let you discover with this video, this so feminine room!

 

Emotion through the look in Ted Nomad’s “Catharsis” bedroom

I already told you about Ted Nomad in the first part of my visit to Street Art City. This room seems to be a liberating phase of his work since he named it Catharsis. A release of raw emotion by looks; in which we can detect innocence, anger, suffering, … A very hard atmosphere for this room that is softened under the eyes of his characters. An impressive stencil work that makes you want to stay on the scene a little longer to decode what these faces have to tell us.

Inspired by Basquiat but not just that! The room of BAST is rock!

I do not know if you noticed it, but every time you go to a Street Art spot; There is always an artist who reminds us of Basquiat! Well here at Street Art City it is BAST a French artist who made the room “The Man Alone”. Certainly very inspired by the master of Street Art; BAST is also rock, even Punk as you can see in the photo. It bombs in Black & White as in color. Personally I do not know what to think, except that I immediately thought of another artist who had a huge talent and therefore inspired and inspires many people!

No Sleep Till Brooklyn, the life of ZESO summed up in this room of the Hotel 128!

I could not forget ZESO in this selection. I think this artist contributed, with his misfortune to the development of Street Art City by spending the first entire season in residence. His contribution is immense; he worked tirelessly and produced many works; and also brought artists from his previous life in NYC. ZESO is from Lyon (hence the 69 region number engraved in the door) and spent more than 10 years graffiti in Brooklyn becoming a staple of the New York scene. Unfortunately he was one day too close to the Mexican border and was controlled, then, as he lived without Visa, simply expelled. The way he invests room 69 is striking; the color is behind a fence and the black & white free … The title of the room “No sleep till to Brooklyn” makes us understand that his desire is to return. I saw a lot of Zeso’s works in France and I never imagined that his remoteness from the USA had been so violent. This room opened my eyes to the artist!

A touch of infantile lightness with the funny bird of PEC

As I made a peculiar selection; I told myself I wouldn’t like to give you a bad image of Hotel 128; because there are also some light, fun, exciting and colorful artworks  to see and you can visit the hotel with children. I thought that ending up with the funny PEC bird, named Knar, was a good idea. PEC is an artist from Lyon and his bird with the years became the little mascot of the city. Visitors stopping, or just passing, through Lyon can’t miss it; since it is on all motorway interchanges and important axes. The only goal of the artist is to bring joy to passersby and it is rather successful. His room Tetra Pack refers to the hunt “Brik PEC” he had organized in Lyon in June 2018 … Like a hunt for Easter eggs but more original.

I hope my selection has intrigued you! As you can see, it represents only a tiny part of the 128 rooms to discover in Hotel 128! Now I’m going to get serious about my verdict on Street Art City!

Street Art City is a must see!

You read well, and yet as I wrote to you in my first article on the discovery of the exteriors of Street Art City, I had a lot of apriori! It is truly a unique experience in the world! The immersion in the Hotel 128 gives you the spin and you will come out knockout. The exteriors are more than pleasant and really varied. Furthermore ; they propose a simple restoration based on fresh products in a more than original place which you will discover on the spot. To do with family or friends; Street Art City promises you to have a great day. And frankly the 20 euros it will cost you will be nothing after what you have lived! If I did it from Paris in the morning and arriving in Lyon in the evening, you can do it too!

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If you like Street Art walks do not hesitate to take a look at my other discoveries in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Paris! And you can also follow my Street Art discoveries on Instagram!

See you soon for new adventures!