Zevs (artist)
Encyclopedia
Zevs is an anonymous French
street art
ist.
He was an early and influential graffiti
artist and active as a tagger in Paris in the 1990s. He is named after a regional train, Zeus, that almost ran him over one day he was down in the metro. Working with other French names of the second half of the 1990s like André
and Invader
, Zevs has been among the prominent figures who pioneered the French street art
scene.
By the end of the 90's he became known for his poetic drawings of shadows in Paris
, shortly after the departure of Facundo Newbery from Paris. Later he 'bombed' models on the billboards between the eyes. Though his interventions have been very popular, it has been discussed in France whether it is vandalism or art.
In 2008 Zevs had his first major survey exhibition at the classical art museum the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek
in Copenhagen
, Denmark
. His work was displayed alongside masterpieces in the museum's permanent collections such as Edouard Manet
's The Absinthe Drinker and Auguste Rodin
's The Thinker.
. Above the hole in the poster he wrote: "VISUAL KIDNAPPING - PAY NOW!" This intervention not only struck a chord with art lovers and people in Berlin. It has also inspired political activists. Stealing an image from a poster in Germany is now spoken of in the media as a visual kidnapping.
Zevs has been doing what he calls 'proper graffiti' since the beginning of the 00s, where he writes on dirty walls with a high pressure jet.
See: www.crookedbrains.net
In 2009, Zevs has his first solo show, Liquidated Logos, in Asia at Hong Kong-based gallery Art Statements, documenting how ZEVS cleverly distorts the logos of big brands. He kickstarted the exhibition by daubbing a dripping, black Chanel logo on the outer wall above the window of a Giorgio Armani boutique in central Hong Kong.
In 2011 Zevs launched his first solo exhibition in New York, titled “Liquidated Version”, in which he continued his artistic commentary on various corporations. Some of the subject matter included many well-known entities such as Coca-Cola, Louis Vuitton and several financial institutions including Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs. Many of the works utilize Zevs' trademark liquidation technique, which seems to dissolve the various logos in front of viewers' eyes, creating an overall drippy aesthetic. In addition to these paintings, Zevs also used various other media in this show to present his agenda and create an environment. This exhibition took take place from February 24 - April 7, 2011 at De Buck Gallery.
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
street art
Street art
Street art is any art developed in public spaces — that is, "in the streets" — though the term usually refers to unsanctioned art, as opposed to government sponsored initiatives...
ist.
He was an early and influential graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
artist and active as a tagger in Paris in the 1990s. He is named after a regional train, Zeus, that almost ran him over one day he was down in the metro. Working with other French names of the second half of the 1990s like André
André (artist)
André aka Monsieur André aka Monsieur A, born Andre Saraiva is a French graffiti artist. He paints a distinctive stick-figure character, usually with a top hat and an 'X' in place of one of the eyes...
and Invader
Invader (artist)
Invader is a French urban artist who pastes up characters from and inspired by the Space Invaders game, made up of small coloured square mosaic tiles that form a space invader character murel...
, Zevs has been among the prominent figures who pioneered the French street art
Street art
Street art is any art developed in public spaces — that is, "in the streets" — though the term usually refers to unsanctioned art, as opposed to government sponsored initiatives...
scene.
By the end of the 90's he became known for his poetic drawings of shadows in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, shortly after the departure of Facundo Newbery from Paris. Later he 'bombed' models on the billboards between the eyes. Though his interventions have been very popular, it has been discussed in France whether it is vandalism or art.
In 2008 Zevs had his first major survey exhibition at the classical art museum the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek
The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek is an art museum in Copenhagen, Denmark...
in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. His work was displayed alongside masterpieces in the museum's permanent collections such as Edouard Manet
Édouard Manet
Édouard Manet was a French painter. One of the first 19th-century artists to approach modern-life subjects, he was a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism....
's The Absinthe Drinker and Auguste Rodin
Auguste Rodin
François-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...
's The Thinker.
Visual Kidnapping
In 2002 he cut out a model of a gigantic Lavazza-poster at Alexanderplatz in BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. Above the hole in the poster he wrote: "VISUAL KIDNAPPING - PAY NOW!" This intervention not only struck a chord with art lovers and people in Berlin. It has also inspired political activists. Stealing an image from a poster in Germany is now spoken of in the media as a visual kidnapping.
"Visual kidnapping is like entering an interactive game: If the brand on the billboard kidnaps the attention of the public with the purpose of consumer demand, I reverse the situation and I kidnap the model on the poster and I demand a ransom of 500,000€ from the brand. This sum represents the symbolic price of an advertising campaign for the brand."
Interview with PingMag, 11 August 2008
Zevs has been doing what he calls 'proper graffiti' since the beginning of the 00s, where he writes on dirty walls with a high pressure jet.
"In the logic of walls made dirty by graffiti, Zevs, the graffiti writer end author of painted shadows has executed proper graffiti. It is about graffiti painted by use of a high pressure jet on walls."
Alain Milon in Prétentaine, 16/17, Winter 2003-04
Liquidated Logos
Since the mid-00s Zevs has become famous for his work with dripping brand logos. A beautiful illusion is created by the dripping paint from the logos, giving them an appearance of dissolving.See: www.crookedbrains.net
In 2009, Zevs has his first solo show, Liquidated Logos, in Asia at Hong Kong-based gallery Art Statements, documenting how ZEVS cleverly distorts the logos of big brands. He kickstarted the exhibition by daubbing a dripping, black Chanel logo on the outer wall above the window of a Giorgio Armani boutique in central Hong Kong.
"Of course, there is a graffiti aesthetic to my art but I primarily play with the visual effect. I use the original colours and re-paint the logo with excess. By pouring paint over them, the logo dissolves in front of the viewer’s eyes, drawing attention to, and visually disturbing the recognisable and omnipresent trademark. By doing so, I try to investigate the logo’s visual power. It’s a simple gesture, just as in Aikido when you reverse the power and change the flow of energy."
Interview with PingMag, 11 August 2008
In 2011 Zevs launched his first solo exhibition in New York, titled “Liquidated Version”, in which he continued his artistic commentary on various corporations. Some of the subject matter included many well-known entities such as Coca-Cola, Louis Vuitton and several financial institutions including Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs. Many of the works utilize Zevs' trademark liquidation technique, which seems to dissolve the various logos in front of viewers' eyes, creating an overall drippy aesthetic. In addition to these paintings, Zevs also used various other media in this show to present his agenda and create an environment. This exhibition took take place from February 24 - April 7, 2011 at De Buck Gallery.
External links
- official website created by Wolfgang Natlacen & ZEVS
- ZEVS art at De Buck Gallery
- Patricia Dorfmann Gallery
- Zevs takes on McDonalds from Wooster CollectiveWooster CollectiveWooster Collective is a website founded in 2003 that showcases street art from around the world. It is dedicated to showcasing and celebrating ephemeral art placed on streets in cities around the world. Updated by Marc and Sara Schiller, the site also offers podcasting with music and interviews...