Dear Shaded Viewers,
Nick Walker is a world-renowned street-art artist presentingt his fourth solo exhibition, Mutations. at La Galerie Brugier-Rigail. He lived in Bristol in the 80’s and gained recognition for his style which combines stencil and freehand work. I met him through my friend Kelly Cutrone about a decade ago when he was in Paris and did the preliminaries of a graffiti that he planned to put up in my old neighbourhood in NYC.
In his current exhibition in Paris, Nick Walker presents, in several paintings, his emblematic character, the elegant graffiti artist with the bowler hat Vandal. This alter-ego, whose style is completely out of step with the world of street art, allows him to add a touch of humour to his works.
Depicted painting on walls covered with old tags or immaculate skies, Vandal reminds us of the artist doing his first works on the streets of Bristol. At times, arrows – vectors – surround him or escape from his body, as if to embody the creative energy that cannot be contained by the artist. His creativity is transposed by his hands and by the spray paint can, to which he pays tribute in one of his paintings.
The strength of Nick Walker’s work can be felt in these works; thanks to the stencils he uses, the characters in his works stand out from the tagged walls as if they were about to come alive.
I include my personal Nick Walker experience.
Galerie Brugier-Rigail
40 rue Volta, 75003 Paris
