Graffiti artist Tilt coming to the streets of Christchurch

The Panic Room

Graffiti artist Tilt coming to the streets of Christchurch

“This amazing artist from Toulouse will no doubt put a smile on people’s faces.”

George Shaw, SPECTRUM Street Art festival 2015

Embassy of France in New Zealand

30 January 2015

Amazing French graffiti artist Tilt, world renowned for his colourful, bubbly paintings, is due to arrive on February 1st in Christchurch to take part in the Spectrum Street Art festival.

Following the success of the Rise festival in 2014, Oi YOU! is returning with SPECTRUM which will be officially opened on Friday 13th February by Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, Hon. Maggie Barry. and will go on until May 10th.

The Embassy of France is delighted to be partnering up with Oi YOU! to bring Tilt to the streets of Christchurch.

The artist will be presenting two pieces as part of SPECTRUM:

- a new edition of his Panic Room inside the YMCA stadium

- a semi-permanent mural graffiti on a wall of Christchurch, carefully selected to accommodate Tilt’s work.

The Panic room

The first Panic Room was born in the basement of the Celal gallery in Paris where Tilt recreated an old hotel room and "destroyed" it with tags and throw ups (rounded letters made quickly). He was later asked to paint one of the rooms at the "Au vieux panier" hotel in Paris: “I thought about it as a huge canvas where I needed to think about the composition and play with the empty white part of the room to accentuate more the idea of Chaos on the other part.”

Tilt in New Zealand

Returning for a third time to New Zealand –although a first to the South Island- Tilt is eager to be sharing his art with the people of Christchurch: “I have been lucky enough to travel to New Zealand on several occasions to paint walls with local artists as well as for a personal exhibition of my works at the Disrupt gallery in Auckland. The kindness shown by New Zealanders and the quality of work demonstrated by the painters I have had the chance to meet have left me with amazing memories.

So, I am extremely happy to be returning, especially since I have not yet discovered the South island which I am keen to explore after leaving my mark on the walls of Christchurch.”

Raynald Belay, cultural and scientific counsellor at the Embassy of France shares his enthusiasm to be welcoming Tilt to New Zealand: “The French Cultural Office in New Zealand is proud to support Tilt’s presentation as part of SPECTRUM Street Art festival. Urban cultures are vibrant in France with a growing number of French artists and venues receiving international recognition.

This offers exciting new opportunities for artistic collaborations between the two countries and especially in Christchurch which is embracing the genre so wholeheartedly.

We look forward to a very successful ongoing partnership with Oi YOU! and its amazing team and supporters in the future”.

Tilt: his biography

Tilt is an internationally recognised traditional graffiti artist, originating from Toulouse in South France. A self-declared “graffiti fetishist”, he learned his trade in the streets and on trains as a youngster.

In the time since he did his first tags on a skateboard ramp back in ’88, his ensuing career has been nourished and influenced by extensive travel. Inspirational journeys have seen Tilt exhibit and leave his mark as far and wide as the U.S.A, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, Thailand, Australia, India, New Zealand, Laos, Taiwan, China, Canada, Philippines, Indonesia, and in excess of 12 countries throughout Europe.

Tilt loves demonstrating that basic, primitive graffiti can be as strong as complicated 3D lettering, wild styles or characters. His focus on letters, high impact shapes and strong colours is a reflection of his history as a true graffiti writer, trained on the streets and in the train yards. Following classic graffiti ideology, his individual styled name is the focal point in the majority of his paintings, in Tilt’s case a bubble letter “throw-up”. “Throw-Up” is graffiti terminology for a writer’s spray painted name incorporating fast lines and done in one or two colours, designed for fast execution; it is the action which Tilt is most interested in, thus he utilises his throw-up styles to visually communicate the fun of creating graffiti in risky situations. Faithful to his origins, he keeps the same pleasure to be painting in the streets: “I’m continuing to paint in the street: because I can’t do without the physical performance and freedom involved in graffiti!” When asked about his passion for the street art culture, Tilt explains: “I come from the most classic Graffiti culture and I have loved from the beginning, walls, trains, gates, rooftops full of tags. I think it shows the energy of a city and how some people decide to enjoy their public domain.”

Tilt has published seven books of his art and photography, entitled Egodrips, PhotoGraffiTiltism, A Scotland yard, Fetish Bubble Girl, My love letters, Magic and Destroy, and Closer to God in heels.

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