C215

C215 is the moniker of Christian Guémy, a French street artist hailing from Paris who has been described as "France's answer to Banksy". C215 primarily uses stencils to produce his art. He put up his first stencil work in 2006, but he has been a graffiti artist for over 30 years. His work consists mainly of close up portraits of people. C215's subjects are typically beggars, homeless people, refugees, street kids and the elderly. The rationale behind this choice of subject is to draw attention to those that society has forgotten. Guémy's daughter Nina is a popular subject of his stencil art. Cats are another frequent subject of his work. C215 is a prolific street artist and has practised his art in cities all over the world. His stencils may be seen in Barcelona, Amsterdam, London, Rome, Paris, Oslo, Colombo, and different Moroccan cities. C215 has to date, done several solo gallery shows to promote his work. "C215's art captures a light, depth, and humanity that is difficult and rare using stencils, his chosen medium. Stencils tend to flatten images and make them static, but C215 has developed a style of illustrating and stencilling that yields an impressionistic illumination of his subject's character. Even though his technique is meticulously refined, C215's work transcends the formal and seems to get to the core of compassion and belief in the human spirit. Encountering C215's pieces on the street is always makes me happy." ~ Shepard Fairey / OBEY GIANT