Street Art Walk in Vitry-sur-Seine with Street Art Tour Paris

I already see in your eyes that you are astoniched I went for my Street Art walk in Vitry-sur-Seine with Street Art Tour Paris, as I usually walk alone in neighborhoods like the Queens in NYC for shooting Street Art. To be honest with you; my area in Paris, named La Chapelle, and nicknamed “no go zone” by the Fox News was really quiet before; but with all the events happened it became very hot! So I did not know what to expect in Vitry which is popular like my Parisian district. And by the way the city is in full transformation with the arrival of the new tramway and I was not able to locate precisely where the artworks were. When Kasia from Street Art Tour Paris offered my to have a tour with the French artist Thom Thom as a guide I couldn’t resist ! Thom Thom is the co-founder of the Association Le M.U.R.that have create Le Mur Oberkampf which is our Parisian iconic Street Art Wall.

 

A city steeped in Street Art culture for over a decade!

That was a huge surprise to discover dozens of stencils by Christian Guémy alias C215, not to mention the countless artwoks by BEBAR; a delight to turn your head!

In fact this is not surprising, in 2008, the French stencil artist, Christian Guémy moved to Vitry-sur-Seine and noticed that the city was not removing tags or graffitis.

So he decides to turned it into a huge playground! His artists’ friends join him and the city walls are transformed at a huge speed. in 2013, he even managed to convince the City hall to leave two giants walls in the hands of the artist  Kouka who in two days only will create sentinels of dizzying height.

From 2009 the City if Vitry-sur-Seine followed the game and began to invite international artists to create frescoes; which have the immediate effect of attracting artists from around the world.

BEBAR, a young artist living in Vitry, has also joined the dance, and has never ceased to spread his colorful “bebarbarie” on the city walls. his intense and colorful works punctuate the walk… You could almost hear the Sound of Hip-Hop music while observing his work 😉

 

Street Art in Vitry-Sur-Seine: An explosive and vibrant patchwork

I’m not going to hide it from you, I loved this discovery! Less “corporate” than the giant wall of the 13th arrondissement of Paris, less organized than the Bushwick Collective in New-York. Street Art in Vitry is free, really free and above all the Town Hall does not try to make it well organized by cleaning tags and graffitis.

You will find there tags, graffitis of young artists, incredible graffitis with exploded typographies, and also magical frescoes.

 

I was quite surprised to discover magnificent artworks by local, French and international artists that I’ve never seen before on social media or in the Street Art’s press. It seems that Street Art in Vitry is still out of the spotlight! I can’t give you the full list of artists who signed in Vitry; it would be to long and almost indecent! On the cover of this article, the work of  Alice Pasquini sets the tone on the international side of this location 😉

In fact Street Art in Vitry-sur-Seine is very reminiscent of the Queens one. it is vibrant, surprising, it will amaze you, it will make you think,… and when you leave the place, you are a little stuned! A few days after my walk I still cannot tell you what I preferred. I was a wonderful discovery filled with very nice surprised. I have selected 4 works that will give you a better idea of what you could admire two steps from Paris!

 

As you have noted, these four faces do not express the same feelings and above all are absolutely not produce with the same techniques. If we focus on the face made by the artist Jorge Rodriguez Gerada; it was drawn quite surprisingly with fatty chalk using the wall tiles as a background. Gonzalo Borondo , on the other hand, reveals his faces with straight lines made with aerosol can. What is impressive in Vitry-sur-Seine is also the multiplicity of techniques used; some of which are sometimes difficult to guess.

A nice meeting with Sandie Carol, Franco-Norvegian artist

Sandie Carol is an artist who has pep’s and very sincerely, my only regret during this discovery of Street Art in Vitry-sur-Seine will have been to note the lack of works by female artists; a dozen out of the hundreds to admire.

So discovering an artist working in the street was a bit like a cherry on the cake! She had just started a new work and from a reworked and pasted photograph she let her imagination run wild.

 

This committed artist founded in 2018 a Street Art Festival in Norway; the « Hardangerfjord Street Art festival » with a view on the most beautiful Fjord in the country. It will take place from October 5 to 10 in Kvinnherad in Norway of cours. the name of the Hard-Danger-Fjord its commitment to raise awareness about the melting of glaciers. A meeting that simply made me want to got for a new Street Art walk in Norway! 😉

How to discover Street Art in Vitry-sur-Seine

Iy you’re wondering if it’s worth going to Vitry to admire Street Art; I advise you to watch the little Live I made on Facebook, you should quickly be convinced!

To go to Vitry-sur-Seine, nothing could be simpler; it’s only a stone’s throw from Paris. You can take the RER C and get off at Vitry-Sur-Seine or take the bus 183 at Porte de Choisy in Paris and get off at “Hotel de Ville de Vitry” stop, a good starting point for your discovery.

The question remains how to find Street Art in Vitry ? In fact with the works of the future tram, the fact that the map you can find on Trompe l’œil l’info is not updated, I rather want to davise you to do like me on this specific tour for once… Unless you are with several friends and in adventurous mood 😉

I’m not used to go on tour with a group, in fact I love fluttering according my discoveries. So I was a little reluctant to join Street Art Tour Paris for this new walk. Finally it was a more than pleasant moment : A small group, which does not stay too glued, a fascinating guide who teaches people the different techniques used by the artists and how to recognize them, who knows each artist and the stories belong to them! In fact I strongly advise you to go with them, especially if you are alone, and then while the tour is finished, you can stay longer there as you will be able to orient yourself in Vitry 😉 Of course you can have the tour in a perfect english too!

And if you prefer to discover Street Art from your sofa, I’m here for you! Do not hesitate to travel through my articles in Mexico City, Holbox, Brooklyn, Manhattan, ou encore dans le Queens. And for those interested in Street Art’ history  in USA; I highly recommand the one of the Mythical Houston Bowery Wall !

See you very soon for new Street Art adventures 😉