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

I was commissioned to paint a portrait of the master of modern judo, Jigoro Kano, for the Long Eaton Judo Club. It is tradition for the judokas to bow towards his image before starting their lesson/practice. The club will re-open after summer closure in September – more photos to follow!

“Jigoro Kano” – Zabou – 1,5x3m – Long Eaton, UK – 2018

Photo credit: Zabou

My dear Salvador is back and refreshed! He loves his new leopard patterned jacket too. You can see the full shutter on evenings and Sundays at Luke Jacobs on Commercial Street, London.

“Dali” – Zabou – 2,5x4m – London, UK – 2018

Photo credit: Zabou

The small city of Stornara, in the South of Italy, organised their first street art festival entitled ‘Stramurales‘. They invited Italian artists such as Bifido and Chekos, and myself to paint murals in the city centre.

I created two murals – the first one depicts a young woman laying in a field. She is surrounded by poppies, which are seen a lot in spring/summer around the city. I based my image on a photo of the charming French actress Marion Cotillard. The second artwork is a collaboration with paste-up artist Bifido. A girl is trying to reel the pedestrians in with a bank note, while a boy is holding a jar with a human victim inside. Watch out for these naughty kids!

“Daydreaming” – Zabou – 5x7m – Stornara, Italy – 2018

Photo credit: Zabou

“The Catch” – Bifido & Zabou – 4x7m – Stornara, Italy – 2018

Photo credit: Zabou

I took part in Upfest this year, a large street art and graffiti festival down in Bristol. For the occasion I painted a portrait of Jean-Michel Basquiat, a famous American artist who also took part in the graffiti scene as SAMO in the 70s.

“Basquiat” – Zabou – 4,5x3m – Bristol, UK – 2018

Photo credit: Zabou

Number90, a venue and restaurant based in Hackney Wick, invited myself and Dale Grimshaw to paint two large-scale murals on their new building. While Dale painted a bright and bold portrait of an indigenous girl, I created this picture of a little girl planting a seed – next to an existing tree. I hope the mural shares a positive message about gardening and being eco-friendly to face the future.

“Plant A Seed” – Zabou – 9x12m – London, UK – 2018

Photo credit: Zabou (1,2,3,6) and Nelly Balazs (4,5)

I travelled to Saint Die Des Vosges in France to paint the 14th permanent mural of the town. The project is organised by Galerie 36e Art since 2015 and gathers French and international street artists such as Fio Silva, Dulk, Mantra and RNST.

I painted a boy leaning on a rooftop and observing the pedestrians and cars passing by with a magnifying glass. He carries a slingshot in his backpocket, while a bird (“rouge-gorge”) is resting on his shoulder.

“The Observer” – Zabou – 7x4m – Saint Die, France – 2018

Photo credit: Galerie 36