source: Butterfly
Thanks to Mehdi Ben Cheik of Gallérie Itinérance and Butterfly, Shepard Fairey and his team were able to take a break from their recent Rise Above Rebel mural in Paris, to stop at the Mausoleum exhibition and visit what’s left of if…
Painting by Honda / Trbdsgn
Source: Chrixcel
In 2010 Lek discovers an abandoned supermarket condemned to demolition. This spot with no tag at all is a godsend and leads to the “Mausolée” project.
The Mausoleum at the time of ‘Immaculate Conception’ – Photo : ClickClaker
Lek & Sowat are the first to invest this place, situated very next to Paris, with some other fellow writers. Very soon they both have the idea to turn it into an artistic illegal residence inside which some graffiti artists and photographers (40 painters for 40,000 m²) will be invited to play a part in the evolution of what will become the “Mausoleum”.
A few months later, a gorgeous book is released (Editions Alternatives), and the secret that was kept so well during all this time is brought to light.
The choice of a French editor was symbolical, says Sowat : « The project took place in Paris, with French artists, in a building which was squatted and cleared out by the police, so in a way it reflected a French social, political and human drama. The traces of life we found inside, the writings on the walls, the abandoned letters and schoolbooks were mostly in French. There was no sense for us to try to convince a foreign editor. As we already knew Alternatives as we worked with them for previous books, we knew they were not the kind of editor to lay a hand on the contents to the detriment of the project”.
Coming out of a meeting at the end of October 2011 with Charlotte Gallimard, Head of Alternatives, things went very fast. After non-stop work, the book was published 6 months later.
The FatCap team also wanted to visit this playground to share with you what can be considered as an authentic underground museum.
A view of the roof with Apotre, Lek & Sowat
Source: Chrixcel
Lek découvre en 2010 un supermarché abandonné voué à la démolition. Ce terrain vierge de tout tag est une aubaine et donne lieu au projet “Mausolée”.
Le Mausolée à l’époque de l’immaculée conception – Photo : ClickClaker
Lek et Sowat commencent d’abord à investir les lieux, situés à la lisière de Paris, avec quelques autres graffeurs de leurs crews respectifs. L’idée germe vite dans leur tête d’en faire une résidence artistique sauvage dans laquelle quelques artistes et photographes (40 artistes pour 40 000 m² au total) seront conviés à suivre et participer à l’évolution de ce qui deviendra le “Mausolée”.
Source: Arrested Motion
Imagine an abandoned four storey supermarket in the North of Paris occupied by squatters, then deserted again. On August 12, 2010, French graffiti artists Lek and Sowat discovered the place much to their delight. For a year, in the greatest of secrets, both artists continuously wandered in this 430,000 sq ft monument to paint murals and organize an illegal artistic residency. They invited forty French graffiti artists to collaborate, from the first to the last generation of the graffiti movement. Together they built a Mausolee, a temple dedicated to their disappearing underground culture, slowly being replaced by street art and its global pop aesthetics. Due to the nature of the place, very few people have seen it in person.
On 12 April Lek and Sowat will share their experience through an installation and video. See pics and more info after the jump.
On August 12, 2010, French graffiti artists Lek and Sowat found an abandoned supermarket of 430,000sq. ft in the north of Paris. For a year, in the greatest of secrets they invited forty French graffiti artists to collaborate and create an illegal graffiti Mausoleum.
As the monument is not accessible for safety reasons, Lek and Sowat recreated a few murals and installations in an abandoned apartment to share their experience with the public .
mausolee.net 