Claire Calogirou - An Urban Aesthetic

A4 format / 192 color pages / Soft cover with flaps [2012]

This work is a stage in a research work undertaken since the end of the 1990s. Based on an ethnological approach, the research has enabled the constitution of a collection for the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations, thanks to the support from the Réunion des Musées Nationaux. Meetings with around sixty European graffiti artists, interviewed and filmed, as well as participation in numerous events are at the heart of this work. These pages open a few windows on the history of Graffiti in Europe and on some of the outstanding figures of what was in its beginnings a fun, a snub, an underground way of life.

We find there, in addition to the focus on the strongholds of European graffiti, themes such as the art market with the participation of Valérie Mondot, founder of Taxie Gallery, the constitution of collections with Emmanuel Moyne, lawyer and art collector extraordinary, or the profession of gallery owner with Willem Speestra, gallery owner and collector.

Claire Calogirou, ethnologist in charge of research at the CNRS, is a specialist in urban cultures. She is behind, among other things, the Nantes event Faire le Mur. She teaches at the Ecole du Louvre and is the coordinator of the research-museum centre, MuCEM-Idemec.