Urban Art Association

so jeff.. what's the story? The evil emperor stops to have a coke ?

Nice one again Jeff.

fair enough m8 and i got the juxtapostion the first time i saw it, i just didnt know if it was a picture that you took or an image that you saw etc that you attempted to reproduce or, if like LV child (which i am personally not a fan of though love the story) there was something more behind it.

The image reminds me of two things. First, the cover of the book "Jihad versus McWorld" from 1995 [cover below] more interesting, the essay: www.theatlantic.com/doc/199203/barber.

Second, during an internship in southern africa and in particularly a very brief time i spent volunteering at a refugee camp i developed a specific fascination of images juxtaposing those at the camp and corporate brands. I see that in this image as well... Technically, the work, like most of your work looks very well executed plus i like the use of soda drippings/splatters as a background. I also like that there is a message behind the painting however, the theme may be a bit worn. No need not to try new variations. I must say I also appreciate seeing yo post on the forum as it has allowed me to discover your work as well as link pieces i have seen on the street to the artist. Very cool you are involved.

One thing I still dont get, is what is with the read arrow? Did it just start of and develop into a trademark?

Thanks McNuts for that long, interesting and developped message...
Well, lots of different things in it... Let's start from the start !
First, this composition is all mine : I've used the old Afghan woman stencil on the street for quite a while now, but had only painted it on canvas once and on paper once too. I got the idea of stencilling a bottle of coke when I once saw one on the pavement, next to my stencilled woman ! The juxtaposition struck me. The pigeon is one of my 7 or 8 different pigeon stencils. I use them quite a lot here and there, on and off the street. Actually they are among the animals that dwell in our big cities and I've always stencilled those : rats, bats, ants, c**kroaches, cats, pigeons... I know people always think of Banksy when they see rats, but I started stencilling mine in 83 ! Blek started his in 81 ! But I had never seen Blek's when I made mine ! Anyway, I guess those animals are part of urban life and we just can't do without them ! About the "overused" or worn topic : well, I swear you won't find in my works many of those "Che / Guns / Cops / Mona Lisa" that seem to be the main inspirations of most street stencillers !!! lol !
And if you look at the zillions of pics of my works (either on walls and on canvas) on my site or on flickr, do you think most of my themes are "worn" ?
Last but not least : the red arrow !
Well, there's a thread about it on the flickr group/pool...
I could say a lot but don't want to talk about it too much so as to leave it to the people's imagination ! See what you want to see in my arrow !

Cheers
Jef

www.flickr.com/photos/jefaerosol
www.flickr.com/groups/jefaerosol
www.myspace.com/jefaerosol
jefaerosol.free.fr

here are other instances of my old woman :