Cyril Kongo | |
|---|---|
 Cyril Kongo, 2016 | |
| Born | Cyril Phan 1969 (age 54–55) |
| Nationality | French |
| Other names | Kongo |
| Movement | Street art (graffiti) |
| Website | cyrilkongo |
Cyril Kongo (also known as Kongo), (born 1969 as Cyril Phan in Toulouse, France) is a French painter and graffiti artist.
Born of a Vietnamese father and a French mother, Cyril Phan spent his early childhood in Vietnam, until the fall of Saigon in 1975. During his adolescence, he lived for several years in Brazzaville, in the Republic of the Congo. Which inspired his artist name, Cyril Kongo. [1] [2]
In 1986, he began tagging Parisian walls to set his mark. In 1988, he joined the MAC crew, a group of Parisian graffiti artists with whom he painted from 1989 to 2001 monumental murals, particularly in the United States where he collaborated with New-York graffiti artists TATS cru . [3]
The director ATN devotes a documentary, Trumac, de Paris à South-Bronx (Trumac, from Paris to South-Bronx) to these imposing works (including a wall about 50 meters long by 8 meters high). [4] Kongo also appears in a 2004 film shot by documentary filmmaker Marc-Aurèle Vecchione Writers,20 ans de graffiti à Paris 1983-2003 (Writers, 20 years of graffiti in Paris, 1983-2003). [5]
In 2002, with the Mac Crew, Kongo launched Kosmopolite, the first international graffiti festival in France, sponsored by the suburban city of Bagnolet where he resides. In 2011, Kosmopolite went worldwide with the Kosmopolite art tour, a yearly event in major graffiti hubs : Amsterdam (Netherlands), Brussels (Belgium), Casablanca (Morocco), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Santiago (Chile), Jkakarta (Indonesia). [6] Having reach its primary objective, dissociating graffiti art from its connotation of vandalism, Kosmopolite has been committed since 2011 to transmit its knowledge and the history of the movement by organizing free workshops of initiation to the urban arts, at first to young people and now also to adults.
Thanks to the art studio of Kosmopolite, called Narvaland, Cyril Kongo, according to his formula "leaped out from the street to the studio" (see page 30 of the book devoted to this art). His works are presented in galleries and exhibitions.
In early 2020, an exhibit on the roof of Paris la Défense Grande Arche is entirely devoted to Cyril Kongo. [7]
Kongo art is based on lettering, i.e. large colorful spray-painted letters, typical of the writing trend of urban art.
During his ephemeral art period (1986-2000), Kongo painted huge frescoes, on walls and various other supports, in Paris and its suburbs, but also throughout the world. The only remaining traces of his works of this period are photos and films.
From 2000 on, Kongo started painting of perennial surfaces. In 2009, two of his paintings were displayed in the Grand Palais museum in Paris as part of the exhibition "Tags in the Grand Palais" organised by art collector Alain-Domininique Gallizia. In 2011, Claude Kunetz, a Parisian art dealer, organised Kongo's first solo exhibition "De la rue jaillit la lumière" (Light springing from the street). From then on, worldwide exhibitions have been numerous. [8] The frontispiece of the Cité des Outre-mer in Paris is a mural by Kongo. [9]
With this recognition, prestige brands began to commission Kongo for the creation of luxury goods, [10] including a silk scarf (a carré) with Hermès in 2011; [11] [12] a pâte de verre spray-paint can with crystal manufacturer Daum in 2016, [13] and a watch with Richard Mille. [14] [15] [16] In 2018, he is awarded the AD Great design award by Architectural Digest for one of the enamel plates he painted for six of the French luxury brand La Cornue stoves (sold $3000,000). [17] The same year, he is asked by Karl Lagerfeld to design for the Chanel Metropolitan Museum of Art show. [18] In 2021, Airbus partner with Cyril Kongo to design the cabin of their business jet ACJ TwoTwenty. [19]
Graffiti is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings, and has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and the Roman Empire.
Leonard Hilton McGurr, known as Futura, and formerly known as Futura 2000, is an American graffiti artist.
The Airbus A220 is a family of five-abreast narrow-body airliners by Airbus Canada Limited Partnership (ACLP). It was originally developed by Bombardier and had two years in service as the Bombardier CSeries. The program was launched on 13 July 2008. The smaller A220-100 made its maiden flight on 16 September 2013, received an initial type certificate from Transport Canada on 18 December 2015, and entered service on 15 July 2016 with launch operator Swiss Global Air Lines. The longer A220-300 first flew on 27 February 2015, received an initial type certificate on 11 July 2016, and entered service with airBaltic on 14 December 2016.
Bagnolet is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 5.2 km (3.2 mi) from the center of Paris.
Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms "independent art", "post-graffiti", "neo-graffiti" and guerrilla art.
Daum is a crystal studio based in Nancy, France, founded in 1878 by Jean Daum (1825–1885). His sons, Auguste Daum (1853–1909) and Antonin Daum (1864–1931), oversaw its growth during the burgeoning Art Nouveau period. Daum is one of the only crystal manufacturers toe employ the pâte de verre process for art glass and crystal sculptures, a technique in which crushed glass is packed into a refractory mould and then fused in a kiln.
Stencil graffiti is a form of graffiti that makes use of stencils made out of paper, cardboard, or other media to create an image or text that is easily reproducible. The desired design is cut out of the selected medium and then the image is transferred to a surface through the use of spray paint or roll-on paint.
André Saraiva born 2 July 1971. Known mononymously as André, is a Swedish-French artist best known for his work in graffiti. Amongst his creations is Mr. A which he has painted across all six inhabited continents. His work has been featured in museums such as the MoCA as in feature films such as Exit Through the Gift Shop. As an entrepreneur, he owns restaurants, nightclubs such as Le Baron, and hotel chains such as Hotel Amour.
OSGEMEOS are identical twin street artists Otavio Pandolfo and Gustavo Pandolfo. They started painting graffiti in 1987 and their work appears on streets and in galleries across the world.
Crash is a graffiti artist.
Le Chabanais was one of the best known and most luxurious brothels in Paris, operating near the Louvre at 12 rue Chabanais from 1878 until 1946, when brothels were outlawed in France. It was founded by the Irish-born Madame Kelly, who was closely acquainted with several members at the Jockey-Club de Paris. Among the habituées were Albert, Prince of Wales ; Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec; Cary Grant; Humphrey Bogart, Mae West and diplomatic guests of the French government.
Blek le Rat is a French graffiti artist. He was one of the first graffiti artists in Paris, and has been described as the "Father of stencil graffiti".
Francisco Rodrigues da Silva also known as "Nunca" is a Brazilian artist who uses a graffiti technique to create images that confront modern urban Brazil with its native past. His name Nunca is an affirmation of his determination not to be bound by cultural or psychological constraints. Nunca is one of the most famous street artists of his generation.
A1one is the pseudonym of Karan Reshad, an Iranian visual artist who pioneered graffiti and street art in Iran. His career as a street artist began in his hometown Tehran.
MadC is a graffiti writer and muralist. She was born in Bautzen, Germany, and is most known for her large-scale, outdoor artistic paintings.
Henri Beau was a French-Canadian Impressionist painter. He is noted for Chemin en été, La dispersion des Acadiens, L'arrivée de Champlain à Québec, and Les Noces de Cana. Beau is a largely forgotten artist due to his long absence from Canada. His widow Marie Beau worked towards establishing his reputation as an artist in Canada after his death. He was only recognized as a notable artist decades later, with major retrospectives of his paintings celebrating his career by the Galerie Bernard Desroches in Montréal in 1974, and at the Musée du Québec in Québec City in 1987.
Codex Urbanus is a Parisian street artist that has been painting imaginary animals on the walls of Paris since 2011. He is mostly active in Montmartre.
Ananda Nahu is a Brazilian graffiti artist born in Bahia, Brazil in 1985. In 2001, she moved from Juazeiro to Salvador, where she attended the College of Design in 2003 and the Fine Arts School at the Federal University of Bahia in 2004. Throughout this time, she developed interests in diverse artistic expressions such as photography, Fine Arts Paintings and engravings, as a result of her studies and research on lithography, serigraphy, metal graving, and posters.
Torrick Ablack, also known as Toxic, is an American artist who was part of the graffiti movement of the early 1980s in New York City. He transitioned from street art to exhibiting his paintings in galleries and museums internationally.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
