Which crimes have been committed since our last review? Let's have a follow-up on the street-art saga in Brest (Brittany) on FatCap and in the new French Graffiti All Starz (#17)!

As suggests our banner-picture where the waggish Dran is body-searching his DMV colleagues, another visit of the spot where new “crimes” had been committed seemed necessary for an in-depth inquest.

That’s what our team did to deliver the results of a top-notch pictorial investigation. Top-notch, if not top acrobatic… with respectively 2 walls of 17 and 11 meters high, the project has reached heights that would make the Himalaya look pale, if ever possible!

Ten months passed since our last review, and as you can imagine the artists have not wasted their time during all these months, some of them braving the bad weather.

The new French Graffiti All Starz magazine dedicates a 8-page global overview on the frescoes which have been realized (together with interviews of Dal East, Smug, Nychos...).

Last time we stopped with Jef Aérosol for Episode 5… Episode 6 led to two new paintings in the end of September 2011. 

Wen2 put some greenness on a gray concrete wall with his radiant tree set on mechanical roots.

Antoine Twan Stevens’ shout rings out in the streets of a quiet residential area: 

He says: "I am proud to have realised a painting in this new open space musem. The shout is a theme I've been working on for while now; this is a personal feeling I need to express, but also the shout of a generation, of a situation...I mostly worked this series on workshop canvas, and in a project like "Crimes of Minds", it seemed obvious to me to paint it again in a bigger size, louder and in the street. I have not finished to treat this topic and hope I'll come back to paint in Brest very soon".

This shout echoes C215's (Episode 3), who has chosen to represent a shouting black man on a marine turquoise background to evoke the energy and frustration of immigrant populations, cooped up in Brest's roughest neighboorhoods or elsewhere. A few neighboors have interpreted it as a call for rebellion and have tried to censor it, but in the end the painting could be saved thanks to a mediation.

In October, 8 out of the 9 members of the Da Mental Vaporz crew have painted an “exquisite corpse” at the level of their graphic power on the frontage of a 17 meters high building for Episode 7. The photographer and movie-maker RomanyWG was invited for this session. 

For Episode 8 PakOne also painted a tree bearing his name in its leaves, in a dazzling pink with aerosol, together with a little stenciled boy: "For me, Crimes of Minds consisted in meeting fantastic artists, as much gifted as nice! It's been a really great  experience,  we've never been so lucky with weather on Brest as the sun has almost always been there; it allowed us to even more enjoy ! I had a feeling of freedom and friendliness.

From a personal point of view, considering certain malicious gossip in the graffiti background vis a vis street-art, I wanted to reconcile both trends, so I mixed them: the chile is stenciled whereas the tree is directly drawn with a spray. My lettering "Pak" stands for the blossom of art on our walls. I really tried to search for a strong image close to universal language. That is why I've chosen to represent a child watering the grey wall with this massive pink tree related to life and street art at the same time".

The New-Yorker Kool Koor, a father figure of old school graffiti history, came for Episode 9 and painted a stylized robot over the walls of a theater in January 2012. 

Kool Koor : "The experience I lived through this project was a very pleasant one. I didn't know what to expect as I have never been in Brest or this part of France for that matter. (...)

Once in Brest I found the members of Sugar Rush to be very open, warm and inviting. I felt welcomed and comfortable from the very first moment I arrived. This was a good thing because the mood I'm in the night before painting will usually reflect on my work the next day. All of my paintings are spontaneous. I take my time looking at the surface and wait for the information to be received before picking up my first can. Initially I wanted to use acrylic and wide brushes for a particular effect I had in mind.

But it was the walls of the Theatre de L'Instant that guided me to another direction. I started with spray paint and did my guide lines in yellow like I always do since 1976. From there the colors started to flow and the rest is history. One thing that did strike me as being unique about this painting is that I chose not to fill in the background beyond the first wall. This gives the mural a sense of flow and force as the energy from the wild style letters explode out in labyrinth like structures onto the front facade and wander up the wall turning another corner then flowing into a 4 meter hight robot on the third facade. After passing through this robot those structures become more sharp and then morph into legible letters spelling my name on the forth facade also facing the street along the roof terrace (...)".

Papy & Milouz from TSF crew and Sly2 came in mid-May to skillfully give life to tramway stations for Episode 10.

Sly2 : "I find this is a beautiful project which emphasizes Brest, I met passionate people and a fantastic local writer named Pakone. I appreciate more and more painting in the country, away from Parisian stress, people seem more open-minded. I regret I could only make quick round-trips so I did not have the time to paint with local writers, but I’m confident I’ll do it on other occasions! A big thanks to Liliwenn for the energy she burnt off in this project! 

Concerning the choice of the visuals, for my first session I did not really feel well and had not prepared anything...I improvised on the wall that I discovered on the spot and adapted from a picture I had from my smartphone. For my second session, I was quite enthousiastic and had also prepared nothing, so I drew in the train and finally chose to illustrate a texte I had written". 

PakOne painted another electric tramway station for Episode 11 the weekend after...

...accompanied by Céleste Java : "I chose to paint something linked with the environment i.e. this is a commercial area outside the town center.  I wanted to bring poetry and onirism in a place which is crowded during the weekends as a "cunsomption temple"...this was important to me as kids are often dragged by their parents into this kind of trek".

For this final session (#12), Liliwenn and Bom.K collaborated on the wall of a 10-meters high house. They spent several weekends non-stop painting to realize it.

We can't resist to show you all the details... (pic: Kevin Perro)

As it was the case for many other walls in this project, it is thanks to door-to-door and positive welcome from the owners of the wall that this artwork could be done in Pen Ar Run street.

Stay tuned, we will add here the movie realised by Lolam as soon as it is set up. 

The website « Crimes of Minds » has also been updated, we invite you to visit it to visualize the galleries, the map locating the paintings, the press release and videos with the sounds composed by the musicians involved in the project.

With a total of 22 frescoes, the perspective of exhibitions in Brest, Paris and  possibly London, and above all a book relaying the whole story, the Sugar Rush team has a lot to do. It constantly calls for volunteers, so you can contact them on the website if you can give a hand.

A must-see and listen, the gorgeous video-clip feat. Mattic realised in line with the project under the name "Crimes of Sounds".

FatCap would like to thank all the artists, photographers and movie-makers who gave their time and contribution to enrich this project, that we supported from the beginning and will certainly inspire a lot of other cities. 

A special big-up to the artists who shared their their experience with us!

Pics, and translation by Chrixcel except for those credited.

THE ARTISTS

France : Liliwenn, Jef Aerosol, C215, Wen2, Antoine Twan Stevens, Pakone, Céleste Java, Da Mental Vaporz (Blo, Bom.k, Brusk, Dran, Jaw, Gris1, Kan, Sowat), TSF (Papy & Milouz), Sly2 - Italy : Alice Pasquini – United Kingdom : Finbarr DAC, Best Ever, Guy Denning, Ben Slow – Danemark : Morten Andersen – USA : Kool Koor.