2019 12

I recently travelled to Würzburg in Germany, a lovely Bavarian city with beautiful architecture. I was invited by the restaurant ‘Frida‘ to paint a Frida Kahlo themed mural on the outside walls. I depicted Frida, looking away, smoking (based on a photography by Bernard Silberstein) surrounded by the decor of her ‘Casa Azul’ in Mexico.

“Frida & Her Blue House” – Zabou – 3,5mxVarious – Würzburg, Germany – 2019

Photo credit: Zabou

I spend some time in Cerignola in the South of Italy to paint my biggest mural to date: 40x12m. The project took 9 days to complete and it was very intense due to the heat and gigantic scale. The mural is located on the main wall of the new town’s sports hall and its goal is to encourage young people to take up sports.

It features two main portraits in the centre: a teenager boy looking happy and hopeful holding a basketball (face inspired by a photo by Colin Hawkins) and a teenager girl with her boxing gloves looking fierce (face inspired by a photo by Fang Xia Nuo). On the side there are two judokas fighting as well as a woman playing volleyball.

The background features the colours of Cerignola (yellow and blue) and the words NON MOLLARE MAI (“Never Give Up”). In Sports and in life, it’s important to fight for what you are passionate about, push through pain and efforts and never give up!

“Never Give Up (Non Mollare Mai)” – Zabou – 40x12m – Cerignola, Italy – 2019

Photo credit: Zabou

Vukovar is a town in Croatia, located at the border with Serbia. Despite a tragic history of destruction and emigration, the town has flourished into a beautiful open gallery, now hosting 18 large-scale murals organised by Vukovart.

For this project, I chose to depict the theme ‘Home is where your heart is’: even if you may not have a physical house, your home is always within you. The feeling of home can be memories, nature, family, a passion and a lot more. I painted a portrait of my Croatian friend Sanja, holding a key, with a house is set in transparency onto her chest/heart. The background has a mix of pastel colours (blues, pinks, oranges) and sights of Vukovar. The mural is located next to the Danube river, opposite a newly renovated path for pedestrians and cyclists.

“Home is where your heart is” – Zabou – 10x11m – Vukovar, Croatia – 2019

Photo credit: (1) Zabou, Rest: Vukovart

I spent a few days at the Mendès-France middle school in my hometown, Saumur, to paint a mural as well as doing workshops with some of the students. The artwork is located at the entrance of the school, in a covered courtyard where bikes can be parked. It features the cropped portraits of 3 art students: Léa, Jérémy and Tayana, and focuses on their eyes. The portraits are based on photographs by Jef Rabillon. One is looking straight at the audience, the other two are looking away, outside of the ‘frame’ of the mural. They could be looking forward, to their future.

“In Their Eyes” – Zabou – 20x2m – Saumur, France – 2019

Photo credit: Zabou

Garcibuey is a small village of a hundred inhabitants, located near Salamanca in Spain. Some of the locals, supported by the region and the city hall, organised its first street art project ‘Graffitibuey‘ to give a new life to the village by creating an art trail. About 15 artists gathered to paint murals focused on rural themes (agriculture, local fauna and flore, traditions etc.) for this first edition.

I painted the portrait of a vigneron to celebrate the strong wine maker tradition of the area. The man (based on a photo by TomazL) is working in the vineyard, holding a grape of ‘rufetes‘ (the local grapes). The background has blue and lavender tones.

“The Vigneron” – Zabou – 20x7m – Garcibuey, Spain – 2019

Photo credit: Zabou

The Village Underground, a music and art venue in the heart of Shoreditch, regularly invite artists to paint on their large outside wall. I’ve been wanting to paint a ‘Clockwork Orange’ themed artwork for a long time as I love both the book by Anthony Burgess and the movie by Stanley Kubrick, both a twisted satire against violence and society’s response. The composition of the mural is divided into two parts: on the left Alex (played by Malcolm McDowell) is shown cheering with a glass of milk, in his iconic outfit (a scene from the Korova milk bar) ; on the right he is being ‘cured’ with the Ludovico technique, wearing the medical head piece while his hand is squeezing the armchair. Both scenes are separated by a glitch effect, reminding us that every story is double-faced and that there can be many errors in the system.

“The Glitch (Clockwork Orange)” – Zabou – 16x8m – London, UK – 2019

Photo credit: Zabou

It’s been a while since I painted in Brick Lane, a hot spot for street art in East London. A few years ago I created a mural on a double wooden door that was entitled ‘s(P)ray’ and depicted a woman with a graffiti mask holding a spray can in her hand (as if she was praying).

It was time for a refresh that illustrates my current style! I asked my friend and talented artist BK Foxx to be my model for this new artwork. The portrait shows her looking straight ahead, confident, wearing her mask and surrounded by colours. A beautiful and vibrant portrait of a street artist.

“Born To Paint” – Zabou – 3x3m – London, UK – 2019

Photo credit: Zabou

I’ve always loved the character and stories surrounding Sherlock Holmes. In the recent years there has been even more content created with movies as well as a TV series featuring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman (playing Dr Watson).

I’ve painted the portrait on a shutter in Hackney, depicting a more traditional Sherlock holding his magnifying glass and smoking his pipe, watching pedestrians walk by. Anyone could be a suspect so… watch out!

“Sherlock Holmes” – Zabou – 4×2,5m – London, UK – 2019

Photo credit: Zabou

L’école Chappe, in Saint-Etienne, France, is a school as well as a beautiful open gallery. The school has been inviting contemporary and urban artists for the past years to transform walls and rooms into artworks, as well as doing interactive workshops with the children and talks. The children from all levels study the artists’ techniques, styles and themes.

This year, the school is focusing on human rights and women who changed history. While the snow was falling, I created a large mural in the yard featuring portraits of defiant women: Malala Yousafzai, Rosa Parks and Kathrine Switzer.

“Defiance” – Zabou – 12x3m – Saint-Etienne, France – 2019

Photo credit: Zabou & RA2 (last 2 photos)

I’m very happy that my first mural of the year is located in my hometown, Saumur, in France. After an interview in a local magazine last year, people and organisations became aware of my work. Street art in Saumur is almost non-existent, most of the city centre is built with limestone making it difficult to paint. Moreover there haven’t been any push for urban projects to happen – until recently.

Emmaüs, a charity that celebrated its 70th anniversary this year, has invited me to paint a mural outside of their venue. The artwork depicts their founder, Abbé Pierre, a priest who fought all his life for social justice and solidarity, against exclusion and poverty. Based on a photo by M. Pelletier Decaux, the portrait shows Abbé Pierre with his famous white beard and square glasses, smiling and hopeful.

“Abbé Pierre” – Zabou – 4x5m – Saumur, France – 2019

Photo credit: Zabou