Info, bio and photos
Since 1992, BYZ has been roaming the
streets, railways and public transports of European
cities, looking for the right canvas to spread his deviant
artwork of graffiti-writing.
By blending his graphic performance to the act of vandalism,
BYZ creates an authentic piece of artwork, a testimony
of his own ideals.
But can one approve of this artform that spoliates private
property by its very nature, in a world where capitalism
is the main driving force?
The answer is open to debate...
The street is a public domain where
the worst blends in with the best, in a somewhat ‘organised’
chaos. The city remains a concrete jungle where only
the fit survive. You can only approve of an artist’s
work on an individual level, as opposed to the general
practice of a certain cultural group.
In this case, breaking the law to voice your opinion
on the incoherences generated by society can be considered
as an obligation, a civil act as a conciencious objector.
Unfortunately, this very ‘personal’ form
of expression has rarely been approved by the greater
mass, too afraid to lose the comfort and security of
their everyday life.
BYZ doesn’t want to change the
nature of his work, but what he does in the street will
not be the same as what he does in an art gallery and
vice-versa, that doesn’t mean he’ll start
painting oil on canvas either!
BYZ presents his work through the eyes of a fictitious
graffiti-writer, Cosmo; a challenger to the hostile
world of the art industry and its galleries. A way for
BYZ to take a step back and have a somewhat objective
opinion on what graffiti-writing represents today...
This audio-visual installation is an attempt to find
a balance between what’s private and what’s
public, between the art gallery and the street, between
the body and soul.
"When I’m creating, I’m
not especially nice"
"When I wake up in the morning and go out in the
street, I have 3 things on my mind: food, sex and graffiti.
There comes a point where graffiti-writing becomes very
basic, intuitive. So I try to improvise, I go to the
back of the bus, out of the driver’s sight. In
the street, when I see a scaffolding or a work site,
I jump on the occasion. Varying font size and type.
Sometimes my signature will be tiny, sometimes it’ll
be bigger than me"
BYZ 76 will be at ALICE Gallery
& Shop
182 rue Antoine Dansaertstraat
1000 Brussels / Belgium
opening on Friday September 9th 2005
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