Top 12: Lek Pieces |

Lek 2011

We were blown away by the Mausolee Project which transformed an abandoned supermarket in Paris into a venerable graffiti museum. Organized by Lek and Sowat, the project found a home on the website Graffuturism, which prides itself on championing graffiti writers who push the boundaries by challenging traditional notions of the artform. Lek does just that. In a recent profile Graffuturism did on Lek they wrote “His ability to push the medium of spray paint and not become attached to its tradition to the point where it hinders the progression is his best trait in my opinion. We expect a lot from Lek in the future.” Clearly they were correct.

Click through the pages below to see our Top 12 Lek Pieces and to understand Lek’s point of view in his own words…

Lek 2007

Lek’s statement:

Lek is a Parisian writer/graffiti artist. I grew up in the 19th Arrondisment, Paris, an area that in 1980’s cradled many graffiti artists. It was in this period I stated painting, or to be more exact I began to absorb the graphic richness graffiti offers. The writers whom inspired me at the time were people like SKKI, JAY DEUB, MEO, LOKISS and quite a few anonymous writers. What I found exciting was that they had a very precise/ defined universe, whether it be mechanic, organic, futuristic or abstract.

Lek 2010

From 1994 I started to define my own universe more clearly. With the LCA (my group), we started creating a graphic identity, pure and minimalist, which at the time was considered some what off the wall. (I was recently told, that at the time, what we did was not considered as ‘good’ nor interesting within the French graffiti movement.)

Double L by Lek 2011

What interested us was the graphic clash between us and other writers, but no one ever responded to this, so we folded in on our selves and started developing many different styles in order to push our composition and letters further. The style was ‘messy’, deconstructed, stratified and minimalist in color for a better impact. The aim was to lead the gaze to the word, which we tried break by excessively designing segments. These segments broke the letters in a mechanical dis-fragmented way.

Lek 2010

At the time I also started exploring new places to paint such as the industrial zone, abandoned stations, basements, buildings, all places left behind / closed down, all places where life has buggered off. Places of experience and inspiration. The curiosity L’instinct de curiosité…….ne permet d’obtenir ou de chercher une forme de liberté………..”