The beauty of the script versus the provocation of its placement, the precision of the work versus the impulsiveness of its execution, the tradition of the lettering versus the modernity of its interpretation: calligraffiti thrives on such contrasts.
Calligraphy, Typography, Graffiti
Calligraffiti combines calligraphy, typography and graffiti and is associated as much with Abstract Expressionism as with Abstract Vandalism. The term was coined in 2007 by Dutch artist Niels "Shoe" Meulman. In ODD MARKS, we present a selection of the most interesting and progressive artists in this field: BLAQK, EGS, Jun Inoue, Patrick Hartl and Zepha. They are joined by TOM71, a calligraffiti artist from Düsseldorf.
One Heritage, Many Interpretations
The artists come from Greece, Japan, France, Finland and Germany. Thanks to their different geographical and cultural backgrounds and their respective calligraphic heritage, the exhibition presents an exciting mix of new interpretations of a classical engagement with script.
BLAQK
BLAQK is an alliance of the two Greek artists Greg Papagrigoriou and Chris Tzaferos, aka Simek. The duo works with a combination of graphic elements, including calligraphy, letters, lines, geometric shapes, patterns, negative space and textures. Calligraphy and geometric shapes are found mainly in Greg's work, while Simek combines geometric shapes with lines. Their works are created both in the studio and in public space. BLAQK has exhibited widely and taken part in festivals and projects around the world.
EGS
EGS (b. 1974, Helsinki) describes himself as a graffiti anthropologist and plays an important role in documenting and disseminating graffiti. As both artist and archivist, he traces the formal and folkloric roots of graffiti in order to understand the social and material foundations of the art form. While his studio works are becoming increasingly abstract, his ongoing illegal works are the result of long and intensive study of graffiti form, juxtaposing the various stages of the art form's development like a collage. EGS started out in the mid-1980s as part of Finland's first graffiti wave. Since then, he has travelled the world to paint, research, connect with other artists and share his knowledge.
One of EGS's main motifs is the world map, usually painted in ink in his classic "inkbolt" style and strongly influenced by the calligraphic essence of graffiti. He twists and distorts the topography until it spells out his name. These maps exemplify his inimitable chirographic graffiti style. The black ink in particular, which EGS also uses in his studio work, lets the viewer recognise both the purity and the complexity of his images. At the same time, his application of paint refers to graffiti's outsider status as an art form and to the behind-the-scenes milieus in which graffiti is usually created. Yet his maps are not merely abstract versions of the world: they also address the colonisation of "new" continents by Europeans, who divided up the world with pen and ruler. EGS's works are held in numerous private collections and are shown at the Finnish National Gallery.
Jun Inoue
Jun Inoue combines traditional Japanese calligraphy with the gestural painting of Art Informel, creating works reminiscent of those by German artist K.O. Götz. He reinterprets the "sen"-inspired aspects of authentic Japanese craftsmanship and combines them with wild style graffiti, thus uniting tradition and modern influences. Jun Inoue paints in the studio and on walls, and his work can be seen in galleries around the globe.
Patrick Hartl
German artist Patrick Hartl picked up a spray can at the age of 15 and began painting graffiti. His graphic studies reveal a special love of calligraphy and stylised lettering, especially Gothic script. Hartl unites an old craft with modern street style, with fascinating results. On closer inspection, his seemingly monochrome works turn out to be the result of many superimposed coloured layers. His personal favourite work is a ten-year-old wall that has been painted, cleaned, repainted, destroyed, washed and damaged, and thus tells a new, unique story again and again.
A master of handmade design and analogue work, but above all one of the leading urban calligraphers, Patrick Hartl has been creating art for two decades. He is a member of the artist group Calligraffiti Ambassadors. Alongside exhibitions in galleries from New York and Buenos Aires to Tokyo, he paints murals in Europe and around the world.
TOM71
TOM71 is a German urban artist and one of the first generation of graffiti writers in Düsseldorf. His works are a symbiosis of typography, calligraphy and graffiti and belong to the still young art form of calligraffiti. In recent years, he has focused on continually developing the connection between script, form and colour in new ways.
Zepha
With a choreography of virtuoso lightness, Vincent Abadie Hafez, aka Zepha, composes a score in which letters are freed from their semiotic shackles. This brings out their inherent aesthetics, their cultural meaning as symbols. Characters of different origins intertwine to form a structure rich in contrast: formal logic and confusion in the lines, instinctive pragmatism and gesture. The starting point is movement and the abstraction that arises from it. His compositions have a dense rhythm, electrified by everyday places, and with quiet, sometimes unexpected breaths, they reveal a demanding and all-encompassing body of work. The gesture is technical, a carrier of ancient calligraphic practices, enriched by the urban context: full of contrast and surprise.
The formal language of Arabic and Latin letters points to a shared history, a shared timeless language, an abstraction to be internalised. Despite all their differences, our alphabets carry a unifying significance that transcends all our origins. Zepha's works reflect his values: a contemporary humanism, carried by the power of the symbol and revealed through an art that transcends all borders.
ODD MARKS
An exhibition of works by BLAQK, EGS, Jun Inoue, Patrick Hartl, TOM71 and Zepha (Vincent Abadie Hafez)
Opening
Friday, 27 April 2018, 7 – 10 pm
Exhibition
30 April – 6 July 2018 (extended)
Monday – Friday, 11 am – 7 pm and by appointment
Pretty Portal
Brunnenstraße 12
40223 Düsseldorf
