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 

It’s that time of the year again… the front wall of the Bell Pub in East London gets a shiny new refresh. They love a good scare and The Shining is the theme that was selected. The mural features the famous movie scene when Jack Nicholson smashes a door with an axe and stick his head through the hole, looking demoniac. The background depicts the little boy writing REDRUM (= ‘murder’, reversed) on the door. Here’s Johnny!

“The Shining” – Zabou – 5x4m – London, UK – 2018

Photo credit: Zabou

London is deeply missing the great David Bowie, who passed away in 2016. I’ve painted his portrait near Broadway Market in East London. The mural is a combined image of his famous Ziggy Stardust make-up with his finger on his lips, while the background is an abstract mix of blue and red colours.

Rest In Peace David!

“Bowie” – Zabou – 3x4m – London, UK – 2018

Photo credit: Zabou

‘Trinity’ is an exhibition of new works by collage artist Joe Webb, tape artist Benjamin Murphy and myself. It features some of my new original artworks, iconic artists and singers painted on objects, as well as various hand finished unique prints.
The show runs until the 6th January at Saatchi Gallery located in Sloane Square in London, UK.

I just completed my largest mural to date in the lovely town of Beeston, near Nottingham. The 35m on 8m artwork took 8 days to complete. Commissioned by Broxtowe Council and organised by the Beeston Civic Society and Beeston Street Art Festival, it features portraits of three local celebrities: Paul Smith, Richard Beckinsale and Edwin Starr. The figures are surrounded by sights from the canal and the old town as well as rays of colours. Residents were extremely enthusiastic and emotional when seeing the mural coming to life. Thank you Beeston!

“Beeston” – Zabou – 35x8m – Beeston, UK – 2018

Photo credit: 1,2 by Jansch Greatrix – 3,4,5 by Dave Silver

The first edition of the Hands Off The Wall festival took place in Vienna, gathering various female artists to paint around the city centre. To celebrate creative women, I painted three portraits: Villana (yarn artist, Mexico), Yara Shahidi (actress, model, USA) and Björk (singer, musician, Iceland). Their hands are joined together.

Carrie Reichardt and Karen Francesca, both mosaic artists from the UK, created a complex design on the lower part of the wall, featuring the words: “I’M AN ARTIST YOUR RULES DON’T APPLY TO ME”.

“I’m An Artist” – Zabou – 13x6m – Vienna, Austria – 2018

Photo credit: Zabou

The city of Villeneuve-Saint-Georges on the outskirts of Paris just opened their new “maison des artistes”, a venue for artists with facilities, classes and exhibitions. As the building has been named after Frida Kahlo, a design contest was organised to pick the portrait of the iconic Mexican artist to be painted on the side – and I was chosen to create the mural.

The artwork shows Frida Kahlo in her studio, leaning on her hand, looking away and searching for inspiration. Her expression is peaceful and happy. In the background, we can distinguish a pot of brushes and pens as well as the silhouette of a canvas. Colours are pale to fit best with the architecture of the building, dating from the 19th century and just renovated.

“Frida, in her studio” – Zabou – 8,5x8m – Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, France – 2018

Photo credit: Zabou

I was invited back to Indonesia to take part in Tropica Festival, taking place on the small island of Nusa Penida off the cost of Bali.

I first spent a couple of days in Denpasar to paint a mural at the Alliance Française Bali. The Alliance Française helps spreading the French culture and language by providing courses, access to books and much more. The mural, painted inside their courtyard, depicts a young Indonesian girl laying on the grass and reading, surrounded by French books.

“The Bookworm” – Zabou – 13x3m – Denpasar, Indonesia – 2018

Photo credit: Zabou

After Denpasar I headed to Nusa Penida for Tropica Festival. This year, Tropica partnered with Seawalls and Pangeaseed to create murals raising issues about climate change and the conservation of the oceans. My chosen theme was the destruction of corals: as the temperature of the sea rises, corals start bleaching and later die. We are slowly destroying a unique ecosystem!

My mural depicts a female diver underwater exploring the reef. On the right hand-side, we can see healthy colourful corals surrounded by fishes, whereas on the left hand-side corals are bleached and dead. There are dead fishes and plastic floating – pollution of the oceans is another dramatic subject.

“Troubled Water” – Zabou – 20x3m – Nusa Penida, Indonesia – 2018

Photo credit: Zabou