Ememem

Ememem is a French street artist. Based in Lyon, Ememem creates mosaics incorporating geometric motifs in cracked sidewalks and façades, a process they[lower-alpha 1] call flacking. Ememem is anonymous, and creates art at night, causing it to generally be discovered at dawn.

Not to be confused with Eminem.
"Flacking" redirects here. For the process known as fracking, see hydraulic fracturing.
Ememem
A mosaic by Ememem
NationalityFrench
Known forMosaics
StyleStreet art
Websitewww.ememem-flacking.net

Art

A street artist,[2] Ememem creates mosaics in cracked sidewalks and façades. They describe this art, which incorporates geometric motifs, as "a poem that everybody can read" and "a memory notebook of the city."[3] Their first mosaic was created in 2011 in an alley in his hometown of Lyon, though they had already been working with ceramic prior to that; they have consistently been creating street mosaics across France since 2016.[3] Their mosaics can easily be found in Lyon, and some visitors to the city walk around to look for the art.[4] In addition to France, as of September 2021 they had created mosaics in Barcelona (including in the Plaça Urquinaona and Sant Antoni[5]) and Madrid[2] as well as Turín, Oslo, Melbourne,[5] and Aberdeen.[6]

A mosaic by Ememem in Madrid

In 2021, Ememem was commissioned by the Société du Grand Paris to decorate the location of a new Grand Paris Express stop.[2] In addition to their street art, they have created additional commissions for exhibitions, some of which have been purchased by art collectors.[1]

Ememem describes their art as flacking, a self-coined[7] neologism derived from the French flaque meaning "puddle" or "pool".[6] They have cited Célébration du sol by Jean Dubuffet as an influence on his work.[8]

Personal life

Ememem is French[5] and lives in Lyon, where they are known as "the pavement surgeon"[3] or le chirurgien des trottoirs ("the surgeon of the sidewalks").[4] They told Ynet that the name "Ememem" refers to the sound of their moped, which they ride when they go to create a mosaic.[9] They work at night to remain anonymous, and their identity is unknown; their work is generally found at dawn.[2] They have refused requests for in-person or radio interviews, and declined to state their age or gender.[1] They share images of their work on Instagram with the account "@ememem.flacking",[7] which had more than 70,000 followers as of June 15, 2021.[9]

See also

Notes
  1. The identity of Ememem is unknown, and the artist has refused to share information such as age and gender.[1] This article therefore uses they/them pronouns for the artist.

References
  1. Renout, Frank (July 20, 2021). "Anonieme kunstenaar Ememem is 'Moeder Teresa van slecht behandelde stoepen'" [Anonymous Artist Ememem is 'Mother Teresa of Badly Treated Sidewalks']. Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (in Dutch). Retrieved 2021-11-27.
  2. Mases, Carlota Bisbe (2021-09-05). "Ememem, el artista callejero que rellena las grietas del pavimento con mosaicos de colores" [Ememem, the street artist who fills the cracks in the pavement with colored mosaics]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-11-27.
  3. Ebert, Grace (2021-05-13). "Ceramic Mosaics Mend Cracked Sidewalks, Potholes, and Buildings in Vibrant Interventions by Ememem". Colossal. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
  4. Chuzeville, Baptiste (2021-09-22). "Ememem, l'artiste chirurgien des rues lyonnaises" [Ememem, the artist-surgeon of the streets of Lyon]. Le Tout Lyon (in French). Retrieved 2021-11-27.
  5. "Street artist Ememem gives makeover to roads damaged from riot". Catalan News. November 20, 2019. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
  6. Meek, Natasha (April 19, 2021). "The French pavement street artist Ememem from Lyon going viral in Yorkshire". The Press. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
  7. Reneau, Annie (2021-05-25). "French street artist fills ugly, jagged potholes with gorgeous, colorful mosaics". Upworthy. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
  8. Rostagnat, Mélanie (2019-10-09). "Collage, mosaïques: les 6 street artistes du moment à Paris" [Collage, mosaics: the 6 street artists of the moment in Paris]. Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 2021-11-28.
  9. מוספיר, דר (2021-06-15). ""למדתי את הרחוב כל חיי": האמן האלמוני שמתקן את מדרכות אירופה" ["I have studied the street all my life": the anonymous artist who repairs the sidewalks of Europe]. Ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2021-11-28.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.