Cutting Edge - Marc C Woehr & Theo Lopez

In Théo Lopez's paintings, lines glide across the canvas. They follow imaginary free forms, swing in harmonious rhythm, take straight paths only to suddenly change direction. In doing so they define shapes reminiscent of wild-style graffiti, inspired by Dadaism and Surrealism. Asked about further influences, Théo Lopez names the Russian Constructivists and American Abstract Expressionism. He brings all of these currents together in works that belong to the contemporary art movement of Graffuturism. Alongside his expressive formal language, what stands out is his skilful handling of light and shadow and his use of bold colours, which lend his works a wonderful vibrancy.Théo Lopez is one of the standout talents of the French urban contemporary scene. Born in 1989 in the suburbs of Paris, he now lives and works in Barcelona. As early as 2008 he was invited by the art collection 9ème Concept, for which he realized several major projects on an international scale. Since then, Théo has continued refining his expression and visual language, moving further and further from the figurative toward the abstract, from effect toward essence. The works of this still- young artist have been featured in numerous exhibitions and publications. Some of his pieces are part of the Nicolas Laugero Lasserre collection and are on display at the Art42 Urban Art Museum in Paris.

Marc C. Woehr began his artistic career in the 1980s as a graffiti artist—shaped by the street, its rules, and its visual language. With his transition to the studio, his engagement with the city shifted from murals to the picture plane: the graffiti artist’s gaze upon facades and lines of sight gave way to an analytical exploration of urban structure.An important milestone along this path is a group of works consisting of collages that echo the Bauhaus and Dada movements—early attempts not to depict the city, but to deconstruct and reorganize it. Already here, we see the principle that continues to underpin Woehr’s work to this day: the street as the smallest unit, and architecture and the city as a larger structure—as a matrix.Woehr’s key works today have moved far beyond collage. In their place are reliefs made of wood and cardboard, in which graffiti forms are reduced to diagonal lines and the colors are strictly separated from one another. Inspired by architecture, urban planning, and minimalism, streets, facades, and traffic arteries condense into geometric, multilayered relief structures—as if city maps were exploding into three dimensions. The city remains what it has always been for Woehr: the graffiti artist’s playground.Her titles offer a second, personal interpretation of the works: pure GPS coordinates, references to the specific locations that inspired their creation. To bring his work to life, Woehr translates his analog designs into digital cutting templates, from which the reliefs are created using a laser cutter—a process in which he deliberately allows for small imperfections and irregularities. Exactly how this transition from analog to digital is achieved in detail remains his secret.(Artist photo: Benjamin Tafel)