André (artist)

André Saraiva
André in Paris

André (aka Monsieur André aka Monsieur A) born 1971 as André Saraiva, is a Swedish-Portuguese graffiti artist living in Paris (France). He paints a distinctive stick-figure character, usually with a top hat and an 'X' in place of one of the eyes. He started doing graffiti in 1985 in Paris, France, where he was living.[1] In 2015, André was fined by a U.S. District Court for vandalizing a boulder in Joshua Tree National Park in California.[2]

Career

André gained notice in the early 1990s with Mr. A, a cartoonish character with a round head, a cross and a circle for his eyes, a big smile and very long legs, which he used to draw all over the streets of Paris. In 2013, he told The Talks that on average he has drawn 10 Mr. A's a day for almost 30 years and in total he has probably drawn Mr. A around 100,000 to 200,000 times.[3]

In the early 2000s, he developed the Love Graffiti series.

He appears in the documentary Exit Through The Gift Shop. His appearance was shot by Mr. Brainwash, the moniker of Paris-born, Los Angeles‒based filmmaker and street artist Thierry Guetta.

André's artistic career includes solo exhibitions at Air de Paris, The Hole, Circle Culture, and Half Gallery. He also participated in MoCA Los Angeles' Art in the Streets exhibition in 2011. The same year, his work was also on view at the Grand Palais, Paris and the 54th Venice Biennale.

During 2013 André Saraiva launched an art project named Dream Concerts. By putting up posters around the world with dream artist lineups at great venues he caught the publics attention. With the project Andrés goal was to play with fantasy and reality. Later on he held an exhibition in Stockholm called "Back to Sweden" with the artwork from Dream Concerts. In an interview with the Swedish artist Artan Mansouri he talks about receiving calls from Jay Z and Daft Punk over the confusion if the concerts really existed or not.[4]

In 2014, between July and October, MUDE museum in Lisbon exhibited a 200-piece installation of André's work, which was accompanied by an illustrated publication featuring essays by Bárbara Coutinho, Glenn O’Brien and Olivier Zham.[5]

Conviction for vandalism

On April 1, 2015, André was convicted and fined for vandalizing ancient rock formations in Joshua Tree National Park in California.[2] André had posted photos of his vandalizations on Instagram. The web site Modern Hiker and its readers aided the National Park Service in tracking down and identifying André's defacing of rocks in the park.[6] Before the conviction, André attempted to silence the reporting with legal threats.[7]

Personal life

André was formerly married to French/American electro artist, Uffie.[8]

Filmography

Rendez-Vous au Club Swan (2015), directed by André Saraiva, featuring Benjamin Millepied and Derek Blasberg.[9]

New York La La La (2013) directed by André and Aaron Rose, for L'Officiel Hommes.[10]

TV Baby "Wild Joy" (Official Music Video), (2013) directed by André.[11]

Last Night at the Chelsea Hotel (2013), directed by André.[12]

Deadliest Catch directed by André.[13]

André directed The Shoe (2011)[14][15][16]

Cazals "Somebody Somewhere (Official Music Video), (2008) directed by André, starring Lou Doillon.[17]

André is also an actor, known for For Lovers Only (2011) and Hora Sagrada (2007).[18]

Further reading

External links

References

  1. ↑ Reisser, Mirko; Peters, Gerrit; Zahlmann, Heiko, eds. (2002). Urban Discipline 2002: Graffiti-Art. Urban Discipline: Graffiti-Art (in English and German) 3 (1st ed.). Hamburg (Germany): getting-up. p. 118. ISBN 3-00-009421-0.
  2. 1 2 Spiers, Katherine (April 15, 2015) "Artist "Mr. Andre" Pays Fine For Vandalizing Joshua Tree National Park." KCET. org. (Retrieved 4-16-2015.)
  3. ↑ "Interview with Andre Saraiva". The Talks.
  4. ↑ http://www.kingsizemagazine.se/intervjuer/intervju-andre-saraiva/
  5. ↑ http://www.mude.pt/exposicoes/andre-saraiva_6.html
  6. ↑ Schreiner, Casey (February 27, 2015). "Is Mr. Andre tagging in Joshua Tree?". Modern Hiker.
  7. ↑ Schreiner, Casey (March 10, 2015). "Mr. Andre issues legal threat to Modern Hiker". Modern Hiker.
  8. ↑ "Uffie Engaged to Monsieur Andre - The Whole Story".
  9. ↑ English, Vogue. "Berluti's Club Swann, by André Saraiva, Benjamin Millepied and Derek Blasberg at La Samaritaine". Retrieved 2015-09-28.
  10. ↑ "{{($root.post && $root.post.id) ? $root.post.translations[$root.lang].socialTitle : $root.seo.pageTitle | translate }}". www.nowness.com. Retrieved 2015-09-28.
  11. ↑ "TV BABY: "WILD JOY" (OFFICIAL VIDEO) | MUSIC VIDEO PREMIERES | NOISEY". Retrieved 2015-09-28.
  12. ↑ "Last Night at the Chelsea Hotel by André Saraiva - purple TELEVISION". Retrieved 2015-09-28.
  13. ↑ "André Saraiva - Deadliest Catch Short Film | Video". Freshness Mag. Retrieved 2015-09-28.
  14. ↑ "André Saraiva's Short Film, a Shoe-In for The Standard". Retrieved 2015-09-28.
  15. ↑ "Shoe In: Andre Saraiva's Short Film The Shoe Premiered Last Night at The Standard". www.papermag.com. Retrieved 2015-09-28.
  16. ↑ "Le Baron's André Saraiva Goes Shoe Crazy". Retrieved 2015-09-28.
  17. ↑ "Lou Doillon X Andre X Romantics Cazals". Trendland. Retrieved 2015-09-28.
  18. ↑ "André Saraiva". IMDb. Retrieved 2015-09-28.
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