French street artist Zevs melts your Louie, your Levis, your McD and your hammer and sickle. The focus of his first solo show in Tokyo explores the brands’ power to bombard you with desire from billboards, screens and public spaces. It’s not about attacking consumerism, but it does leave consumerist iconography bleeding with red dribbles and leaking in rainbow streaks. Zevs, Sep 2 – Sep 23, Art Statements, Tokyo
To promote his last exhibit in in Hong Kong, French artist Christophe Schwarz better known as ZEVS, vandalized an upscale storefront and had to spending a few days in jail to avoid paying a $1 million fine. In an interview, he promised that he’d never do anything illegal there again, but what about New York? Next year, he will showcase his latest drippy work for a solo show at Gallery De Buck targeting Wall Street, specifically NASDAQ, Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, Bear Stearns and just about every other “venerable” institution that helped plunge the U.S. into near financial collapse, making his signature “liquidations” all the more relevant. Sample gallery below. Read more »
Recently arrested street artist ZEVS has sworn off liquidating any more logos while he’s stuck in Hong Kong awaiting his day in court. In a recent interview, the Parisian artist also commends his arresting officers, saying they “did treat me well. They did not put me in handcuffs or make me uncomfortable.” |Art Radar Asia|
After his arrest last week, Parisian street artist ZEVS will be hanging out in Hong Kong for a while. The logo liquidator’s court case, for pouring black paint over a Chanel sign on the city’s Chater House, is adjourned until August according to the South China Morning Post. ZEVS was out of jail in time for his show opening at Art Statements Gallery, including an “anti-climatic” performance in which a “model sat down and bared her back as ZEVS dripped white paint on her with a syringe.” However, with paint damage estimated at $860 thousand, authorities are holding his passport, keeping him close by and forcing him to cancel a project in New York. After the jump, a video profile filmed just prior to his arrest. Read more »
ZEVS’ Chanel Logo Liquidation Could Cost A Million Dollars
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- ZEVS at Art Statements Gallery in Hong Kong
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- ZEVS at Art Statements Gallery in Hong Kong
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- ZEVS at Art Statements Gallery in Hong Kong
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- ZEVS at Art Statements Gallery in Hong Kong
Recently arrested street artist ZEVS says his logo liquidation should be easy to wash off, but a Hong Kong clean-up crew disagrees. Prosecutors say the paint he poured over a Chanel logo he pasted on a Giorgio Armana storefront won’t come off and the façade must be replaced completely, at a cost of $870k. The 31-year-old Parisian artist pleaded guilty to the vandalism charges, but called the cost “surrealistic,” saying his drippy work had been washed off “more delicate surfaces in other cities.” If there’s a chance ZEVS is on the hook for nearly $1 million in damage, it’s a pretty safe bet he didn’t make his opening last night at Art Statements gallery.
Parisian street artist ZEVS was arrested yesterday after “liquidating logos” in Hong Kong, where he’s opening a solo show this week. Apparently his cleaning crew disguise wasn’t enough to stop a bystander from calling the cops after seeing the artist pour black paint on a Chanel storefront logo. At this point, it’s not clear whether ZEVS, or the two others arrested, will be released in time for the Thursday opening at Art Statements Gallery . It’s also unclear why Dominique Perregaux, the gallery owner, “did not understand why police had arrested the artist” for vandalizing other people’s property, although it was water-based paint. |SCMP|
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