LAYER CAKE

« Outdoor lettering is really my reference universe. »

BEARS was born in 1972 in Bois-Colombes in the Paris suburbs. He started graffiti at the end of the 80s. Originally, it was the photo of a TRAK graffiti made in Colombes that impressed BEARS.
He decides to reproduce this new graphic expression for him. Then, he discovers the graffiti movement step by step.

Why BEARS? At the time, the historical stars of Parisian graffiti are BANDO, BOXER ... so it needed a B. And then the artist is a also fan of American football, especially CHICAGO .... BEARS. The name was found.

He starts directly with lettering and BBoys and very quickly, he develops a stylized lettering capacity. Over the course of the experience, BEARS has changed its approach to characters, from Bboys to more specific creations, Marvel Comics at first (Hulk, Spiderman ...) and very quickly, the universe of the cartoonist Todd Macfarlane, highlighted in his series Spawn, seduces him. They are much more accomplished characters, more realistic, more dark and violent and more dynamic too.

In 1990, BEARS starts the canvases in parallel with the walls. As he had a workshop space, he quickly began to create on canvas, but on different themes than his murals. His work on canvas oscillates between abstract and stylized figurative.

His paintings reproduce graffiti codes with omnipresent "outlines" and "highlights" that structure colorful compositions. Emancipating from the letter, organic forms conveying an idea of vertebrate networks or cellular tissues animate its supports.