• World known legend of street art

• Genius of stencil technique

• Author of social portraits all over the globe

“In 1989, when I picked up a can of paint for the first time, I couldn’t even think I would be still doing it now. Then you couldn’t make money from it. It’s was fun, hobby, a way to impress girls — nothing more. I never thought of it as a career. It was simply impossible. When I started working with stencils in 2006 (not so long ago), even taggers laughed at me, saying, "Hey, this thing is to decorate your kitchen!" And nobody would call it art. Now things have changed.

Being an artist, in a certain sense, is to dream and follow your passion. Never give up on your dreams, because dreams and passion create the most beautiful things in this world”.

 Christian Guémy

Christian Guémy is known around the world under the name C215. He is a classical street artist, practicing both in the streets and in art institutions around the world. His works are elegant analytical tools, a romantic attempt to transform the urban environment. Christian’s frescoes require reflection by all the involved: the author, the city residents, the very urban spaces. His messages are transparent, they are addressed not only to the community of street artists and fans, but to everyone.

The exhibition at Erarta Museum dynamically portraits both celebrities and politicians, and unknown vagabonds and beggars.

Christian consciously plays with the “society of observation”. The painted objects, murals, photos, texts, videos — all this reveals various facets of C215’s talent. As if  enclosed into an ideal "Panopticon", the artist's works are available for observing  from all the sides.

“My tools are stencils and sprays, but I am not a vandal. I never destroy”, — he says. “My art exists in context. I work with great respect to the cities. Prosperity does not inspire me. It’s much more interesting to draw over the ruined buildings, electric panels, and old mailboxes. I really believe street art can change people’s everyday life in big cities”.

Guémy uses a diligent technique of stencils. His street art is close to painting in the classical sense; his works are brought to perfection by careful attention to details and mid-tones. The artist says he works extremely fast, without unnecessary pathos and pretentious movements, looking for simplicity and honesty.

The art by Christian Guémy is social, but with no harsh criticism, protest or call to action that are so characteristic for street art in general. He is not trying to shock the viewer. He emphasizes that he is not an actionist, but rather a portrait painter, interested in private and individual images of his heroes.

Christian is interested in different psychological states and moods of people. He pays attention to the individual characters and life stories. His main instrument is empathy. His main desire is to understand the internal emotions of a person, to capture his eyes expression and convey his unique story.