I met the two little twin sisters Success and Surprise through FutureHackney, a collective of photographers capturing portraits of East Londoners. I took photos of them holding each other and painted a mural at the By The Bridge Cafe in Hoxton.

I love the tenderness and the hope in their eyes. It’s been complicated times for Londoners between Brexit, protests, social displacement, high cost of living and I keep but wondering what does the future hold. At least, Success and Surprise have each other.

“Sisters” – Zabou – 3x4m – London, UK – 2019

Photos credit: Zabou

I flew to Haiti to paint in the capital Port-au-Prince for the 4th edition of the urban culture event FestiGraffiti. Haiti has been through widespread poverty and difficult times (lately: gas shortage and riots) and its people keep fighting for a better future.

I painted on a school three portraits of Haitian girls based on photographs by Maxence Bradley (left, right) and Fabrice Celony (middle portrait). I love how the girls look intensively at the audience, with pride and determination. The design was supposed to include many more elements (masks and outfits from the traditional carnival), sadly the wall owner didn’t let me paint the full design.

Big thanks to the FestiGraffiti team for organising despite the complicated context, to the volunteers and everyone I met during my trip.

“In their Eyes 2” – Zabou – Port-au-Prince, Haiti – 2019

Photo credit: (1) Unknown, All others: Zabou

This year the Cheltenham Paint Festival teamed up with the Literature Festival to celebrate their 70th anniversary, making it the world’s oldest literature festival. I decided to paint a portrait of Shakespear’s Hamlet, when the character recites his famous ‘to be or not to be’ monologue, wondering about his own existence and death. Hamlet is seen holding the skull and looking at it with sadness, while flowers are growing around it. Thanks to the organisers of the festival and Gustavo my model.

“Hamlet” – Zabou – 4x5m – Cheltenham, UK – 2019

Photo credit: Zabou

For the second edition of Eternelles Crapules festival, about 15 artists are invading the city of Moûtiers in France to create large-scale murals and graffiti pieces. I painted on the town’s book and media library a very special piece – it’s upside down! Using the triangular shape of the roof as the cover of the book, the mural shows a woman reading peacefully, lying in the grass and dandelions. Thanks to Maëlle and Lucas, the organisers, and to my model Audrey!

“Le Monde A L’Envers” – Zabou – 8x9m – Moûtiers, France – 2019

Photo credit: Zabou

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)