Last weekend an astonishing project called “Mausolée” was presented by the French artists Sowat and Lek. In 2010 they found one abandoned supermarket ( 40.000 m2 in 4 floors) in the north of Paris, which was also, for a long time, the residence for homeless. The abandoned building was invaded and made an artistic residence by Lek and Sowat.
They invited 40 French graffiti artist and photographers, old and new school, to work with them for a day or a week. For a year, in a great secret they created the mausoleum. In the destroyed building with a lot of dirt, abandoned pieces of cars and personal objects from the homeless that use to live there, the artists found a paradise for graffiti art: white walls.
Amazing and huge abstract and figurative graffiti was painted during the residence, putting the roots of the street art in deep connections with its means of existence: sub-culture.
To present us this incredible project “Mausolée” the artists made a movie and a beautiful book (Mausolée – edited by Alternatives). Both were showed in a great installation, inspired by the artist residence and also with some objects that they captured from the abandoned supermarket. The exhibition took place in a 200m2 site under-construction residential building last weekend. Congratulations Sowat and Lek!
My Life On My Bike 