“Towers”, 2022, galerie Mathgoth, Jean Nouvel’s new towers in the 13 th

He loved English and American culture and became an English teacher, but he also liked to play the guitar and to paint. Jef Aerosol decided in 2008 that he had taught long enough and became a full time artist. He started using stencil forty years ago in 1982 and is now one of France’s foremost street artist. His first experience was in Tours, when he decided to paint the walls of the town in the early eighties. Jef Aerosol is very charming and speaks naturally about the different phases of fashion in his art. In the 1980’s, there was Speedy Graphito one of his friends, in the 1990’s, he enjoyed the hip hop and in 2000 it was Biritsh artist Banksy. You can discover his most recent installation and portraits until November 5, in an empty space at 147 ave de France across the street from Bibliothèque Nationale de France. And if you wander around Beaubourg, you probably already know his piece “Chuuuttt”painted high up next to Eglise Saint Merry.

The stencil artist has become a real dandy over the years… here at 147 avenue de France

Avenue de France is constantly under construction and the chic of Mathilde and Gautier Jourdain, the owners of galerie Mathgoth, is to always find empty spaces to exhibit their street artists. Last time, in 2019,  it was the wonderful Portuguese painter Bordalo at the other end of the avenue, which drew 25 000 visitors. This time, Jef occupies two spaces, one for his personal portraits and intimate works, the other, a larger gallery, for an installation of his 200 favorite famous people, an urban fresco.

“Chuuuttt”, near Centre Pompidou a street painting

Both are very interesting. His portraits made with stencil are very strong with an intense social axis. Many children in one room form a charming vision of the work. Music is important for this artist who started playing the guitar at 12. He is therefore often called the “Stencil singer”. He was at a concert in 1981 (which I also attended) The Clash, where graffiti artist Futura 2000 painted live on stage with an aerosol. And this converted him to painting.

A Million Miles Away, 2022, galerie Mathgoth

He uses stencil for all his paintings but adds multi layers of color which give it a special depth and realism. The artist was born in Nantes in 1957, but now lives in Lille. His first exhibition in Paris was at Galerie du Jour, Agnès B’s space near Saint Eustache in 1986. It’s funny to think that her new exhibition space, la Fab, is about a hundred meters from where he is showing this month.

The installation on 147 avenue de France is great fun

Jef Aérosol until November 5 from Wednesday to Sunday 3pm to 7 pm.