A bit of good humor in a monotonous daily life… Metro, work but above all decoration. Ten young graphic designers, selected by designer Kamel Secraoui, have decorated the exterior elevators of the Toulouse metro. Their works are made using adhesives they have created, to “color the city” and make themselves known by this “springboard of urban art”, the organizers announced on Thursday.
“The idea is to color the city, to put color on the public space, without degrading (…), to give a smile to passers-by”, explained during a press conference Kamel Secraoui, founder of the Design Art City association, which aims to develop urban aesthetics and make art accessible to all.
“Social lift, springboard for urban art”
Street artist under the avatar of Chat Maigre, and creator of the KLD Design agency, he had himself “colored” in 2007 the elevators of the Toulouse metro with adhesives, and had the idea of this new project entitled ” Social lift, springboard for urban art” to help young people break into the profession.
“I was receiving applications from graphic designers, who couldn’t find even internships, even though their portfolios were really magnificent (…) and the idea came to me to redo the elevators, but this time- this as a springboard (…) to make them known, “said Kamel Secraoui, 47 years old.
A recycled decoration
After a call for applications, transmitted via social networks and graphic design schools, he received around fifty applications, 10 of which were selected in collaboration with Tisséo, the Toulouse metro operator. Aged 19 to 29, seven girls and three boys, self-taught, students or freelancers, have thus imagined adhesives or stickers, removable and recyclable, with abstract or figurative motifs.
“I thought of it as an imaginary journey (…) you have to turn around starting on the right at the exit of the elevator for a walk in the Pyrenees, then Toulouse and the pink color of the bricks, then the ocean” , explained to AFP one of these graphic designers, Cécile Deldy, who decorated the elevator of the Compans-Caffarelli station.
Works in place for a month
Jean-Michel Lattes, President of Tisséo Communitiesadded that the project, financed with the help of companies, aims “to allow the general public to be in direct contact with the works, which metro lifts are particularly conducive to” and “to promote young people who have a well-established talent, but who need a showcase”.
Glued to the exterior walls of the cabins of ten elevators on line B, one of the two on the Toulouse metro, and also featuring a biographical profile of each artist, these ephemeral works will remain in place for at least a month.