A show prepared at the last minute, just like the way they paint when out at night.
The Speerstra Gallery presents two graffiti crews from Switzerland: the ALS and ADP ("Avec Le Sourire" and "Avalanche De Peinture" from the Valais). A show prepared at the last minute, just like the way they paint when out at night.
Artists: Asme, Skor, Demes, Inok, Wax and Ten
ASME
Asme describes himself as a compulsive draughtsman, "scribbler of notebooks". Starts graffiti in 1989 and distinguishes himself by his unique letters. Asme has evolved to graffiti from being able to execute his drawings on a more consistent support then walls, by giving them another "dimension". Lausanne and it’s region is where he works on walls, his references going from Sena to Dare, Show and Toast. For his first exhibition at the Speerstra Gallery, he has communicated his passion for the graffiti by opening new formal and chromatic horizons towards his canvases.
SKOR
Skor is a member of the ALS crew and began to paint in 1995. Influenced by the Hip-Hop culture and it’s positive principles influencing his works on canvas, in which he conveys the notions of unity, openness, multiculturality and freedom. Spraying his characters in Lausanne and inspired by the work of Mode2, but also Dare and Toast. His work on canvas reappropriate the same elements and same aesthetic that on his murals.
DEMES
Graffiti artist based in Sion, Demes is part of ADP crew. Distinguished himself by his frescoes and letters on railroad tracks, through his own calligraphic style. For his first exhibition at the Speerstra Gallery, Demes has produced several canvases, all spraypainted, presenting his wildstyle S and E in abstract funds combining bright and dark colors and creating an superbe abstract calligraphic work.
INOK
Inok started painting graffiti in 1998, and after a brief period of activity tagging streets, he started working on walls and railways tracks. Young and talented, his practice of graffiti art came from being close to famous ols school painters from the city of Lausanne, but also from the desire to practicise a beautiful and subversive art form in which he takes great pleasure. Spray, acrylic and Posca are the tools he uses on his canvases. Inok succeeds by expanding these techniques in his work that is mainly based on letters and characters.
WAX
His two first exhibitions were held in 2006 and 2007, at Martigny and Sion in Switzerland. He has been painting graffiti since 1996 by joining the ADP crew. In his canvases, he explores different styles in a disorderly manner, as someone who precipitate himself in a passionate way, burning his pictorial exploration from both ends. His appeal for the spraypaint is so strong that it is noticed on his canvas, Outside gallery, he is specially active in central Valais and is speciallized in letters by always painting them in a clean and very graphic style.
TEN
Ten is a graffiti artist and a painter whose favourite mediums are stencil and billboards. Elements of his work from the street can be found in his paintings. His urban work is sometimes executed according to a context and is placed "in situ". Always exploring different pictural forms in his paintings, particularly with the use of acrylic paint. Cultivating a great sense of humour, perhaps with the help of his leitmotif B.I.B.I.N.E.F.O.R.E.V.E.R. (beer for ever). For the past ten years, he has been painting in Conthey and Sion with the ADP crew, has had two exhibitions, including one in Sion in November 2006.
© C. Maréchal / © Speerstra Gallery