Spotlight on Seth Globepainter

I have now written a few articles for you, usually looking at the negative reception of street art, or the issues which come about from art which is in public areas, so it is nice to be able to look at this subject in a positive light, rather than to extol the virtues of why street art is effectively an open gallery for all.

Julien Malland aka Seth Globepainter is a street artist who has emerged in Paris and is utilizing the building of the 20^th arrondissement, with large-scale characters which dominate the skyline and bring a beauty to the area by developing his vision on to the side of drab buildings.

Seth hasn’t only kept his artworks to the streets of Paris but has traveled the world, to bring a cultural knowledge to his work, which is demonstrated with a deeper spiritual understanding of the places that he has visited and worked.  The characters which he portrays are often children and have a cultural link to the environment which they have been painted in.

There is a heavy use of pattern and design which bring a certain energy to his work, but also allows a natural beauty to reveal itself as the pattern usually emerges from a theme drawn from nature taking his inspiration from the environment around him.

Seth has released two books about his travels with the latest one “Extramuros” which details his 2-year journey creating his fantastic art in countries such as India, China, Mexico and Indonesia.

Impressively Seth co-founded a publishing house called “Wasted Talent” with Gauthier Bischoff after they published a book called “Kapital, one year of graffiti in Paris”, which became a best seller.  Seth also is a presenter, author, and director of “Les nouveaux explorateurs” which is a TV series produced by Canal+.  Each show focuses on a country and its local murals.

It is amazing to see someone with so much passion and commitment to combining cultural symbolism with the drive to enlighten and teach those around him about how art can tell a story about heritage and politics.

Through Seth’s art, you can feel that there is a key message about globalization.  You can instantly recognize the images and characters and the countries that they come from through his art, which makes a statement to me about how the world is becoming a much smaller place and that, through all different types of media, the images which Seth portrays feel somewhat familiar.

There are subtle playful and political messages within Seth’s work, presenting his audience with not only a beautiful display but also some mildly subliminal messages to go away and think about, leaving them remembering his work long after they have walked past it.

Seth is probably most well-known for his depictions of children looking into a colorful pool like voids.  They hide their faces within a swirl of color, leaving the audience wondering what is so interesting on the other side of the rainbow.  The children have cultural emblems around them, depending on the location and have an almost eerie feel forward-looking, reminding us that the children really are the future generations which will order and define the world around us, so we should probably look after it now for them.

Regardless of how you feel about street art in general, or more specifically the work of Seth, it is difficult to deny the visual appeal of his work.  These are pieces which should be embraced with a view of bringing art to the people rather than putting it in galleries where only those interested in art will see it.

We had the absolute delight of meeting Seth on the streets of Paris, as he was creating one of his magical pieces.

You can find out more about Seth Globepainter by visiting his website – http://seth.fr/en/ where you will see his diverse styles and intriguing range of techniques and characters.