A French street artist was given carte blanche to exhibit at the historic Chateau De Vincennes, a royal castle on the eastern edge of Paris, displaying his urban installations, graffiti, videos paintings, sculptures and photographs.
Artist “Zevs”, whose pseudonym is the same as the name of a train which almost crushed him in 1992 while he was graffiti painting, plays with Humour to bring the castle to life with his works of art which have been given a historic twist.
The “Black Lightning” exhibit sees the fortress’ moat set ablaze using a technique called “clean graffiti” – where a steam-cleaner is used to remove dirt – as well as a vending machine full of plates imprinted with the faces of guillotined french figures.
Zevs plays with light throughout his exhibit, with flames, brightness, flashes, electric lights and strobes present throughout and described by the artist as an “electroshock” intended to wake up the history of the castle.
The Vincennes castle, which was at the heart of the French monarchy until Louis XIV chose to settle in Versailles, was used as a prison from the 16th to the 19th century.
