Graffiti artist Kongo blazes his way back to SG

PUBLISHED April 4th, 2012 08:56 am | UPDATED May 9th, 2018 03:13 am

Last year, a flurry of graffiti activity hit our shores. No this wasn’t someone with a death wish – but in fact Kongo, one of France’s most famous graffiti artists – who was here to shake up our perceptions about graffiti.

He boldly burst onto our scene riding on the wave of a collaboration with luxury fashion brand Hermes (graffiti silk scarves anyone?), and showcasing his works whilst getting down in a graffjam as part of the exhibition Off the Wall, Down by Law in Singapore, Lah! at ArtSpace@Helutrans.

But all that was just for starters because he’s back in Singapore with his explosive graffiti blazing a trail through to one of our absolute favourite galleries – 28th Fevrier (which we recently wrote about here), a.k.a. Dominic Khoo’s 5-minute indescribable space. Cue From Paris with Love, a 2 week long solo exhibition from 13th – 27th April showcasing Kongo’s favourite pieces which shout loud and proud about the limitless possibilities about graffiti as an art form. Even more exciting is the fact that he will be creating one off pieces “live” on canvas during the Grand Opening of the exhibition.

As you can tell by now were were pretty excited over at City Nomads when we caught wind of his return, and so obviously I pounced at the chance to interview the man himself which we’re bringing to you right here, right now.

“My style is essentially graphical”, Kongo explains, “and my inspirations come from my travels, my meetings and my life that I translate into my own vocabulary made up on Paris walls, my style comes from my twenty five years experience in painting graffiti in the street.”

Like many artists, his influences are diverse ranging from “my masters from New York ghettos, Tkid, Tatscru, Cope2, Basquiat but also from Pollock, Debuffet, Matta, Kandinski, Monet.” Well there’s something to say to people who believe that graffiti’s got nothing to do with art.

I always wonder how well known graffiti artists became graffiti artists, and then how do they make the transition from street to gallery.  Kongo’s story is the answer, “I think that my need to express myself and my strong desire to live in a different way has been the main key for me to become a graffiti artist. There was a time when I used to read a lot of American comics and at that time Hip Hop was doing very well in France, its energy was amazing. We were trying to make up a new way of living, we never imagined that this art would lead us all over the world and that the graffiti we painted in the waste grounds in the suburbs of Paris would be known beyond the frontiers.”

He continues,  “In 1991 I had the opportunity with my friends to exhibit our paintings in Beaubourg, a well-known museum for contemporary art in Paris. At that time I got the feeling that we had reached another artistic dimension and that in the years to come they would have to take us into account. Twenty years later I had my first solo exhibition in an art gallery.”

If ever there was a time to use the phrase from small seeds big things grow, this is most certainly it. Fast forward to now, and once again Kongo’s back in Singapore for a second year in a row. Could this be the beginning of a beautiful friendship? Or does the exhibition represent much, much more for the artist?

Well, it’s seems a bit of both. “I’m very excited about my exhibition in Singapore, I would like to share my experience and my vision of the world with people in Singapore, to show them that graffiti is not vandalism but rather a different way of looking at the world, a different way of taking into consideration ownership, that above all that graffiti speaks to human beings.”

This certainly sounds like a man on a mission, but that’s not the half of it as Kongo goes on to explain, “I would not only like to conquer Singapore but above all conquer the hearts of all those who call it home. We all have our own place on earth,  each of us we must look at ourselves in the mirror and try to change in a positive way what seems to be wrong, without of course crushing down our neighbours. For me, graffiti has been my way, but for others it can be sport, finance, cooking, anything that makes you happy; I’d like to pass on love, freedom and self-confidence.”

If there’s one thing that gets up Kongo’s nose, it’s when people don’t respect graffiti as a viable art form – something which I have to concur with as part of the often disregarded urban arts. On asking him what he would say to those people, Kongo answers, “I would say to them to look around them, to speak to their children, to accept how major is the influence that graffiti has on our society and they will see that graffiti is already part of their life whether they want it or not. Today graffiti belongs completely to contemporary art and it will leave an indelible mark into the history of art.”

Of course the question I most wanted to ask was what – given no legal restrictions (hey, I’m not completely crazy!) – would be Kongo’s ultimate place to paint in Singapore, and what form would it take? Boldly, he sets his sights eyes on the Merlion, “I would like to paint the big white lion, the symbol of Singapore, to show that it’s ready to accept the world, that the association of two colours giving shape to a third, for that is life !”

From Paris With Love runs from 13th – 27th April, at 28th Fevrier, 5 Jalan Kilang, Singapore 159405. Stay tuned to our Facebook page here for details on how you can win passes to the VIP OPENING of this exhibition!

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Written by Ms Demeanour

All images kindly provided by Kongo/28th Fevrier