MATHIEU1976

Artist: Mathieu_1976
Title: The Echo of Forgotten Walls
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 8F (46 x 38 cm)
Date: 2025
Signature: Signed lower right

/// WORK DESCRIPTION ///

This cherub, eyes gently closed and inspired by baroque sculpture, is frozen in a pose of innocence and serenity. Yet, it emerges from a controlled chaos: white splashes, unreadable graffiti scrawled around its silhouette, and bursts of scorched ochre and rust tones. In this piece, Mathieu_1976 juxtaposes classical iconography with the raw language of street art. The raw, unpainted canvas background intensifies the tension between the sacred and the vandalized, between the eternity of marble and the fleeting nature of aerosol. The work becomes an allegory of the ephemeral, where the angel seems to meditate in an invisible, tagged, and vanished cityscape.

/// BIOGRAPHY OF MATHIEU_1976 ///

Mathieu_1976 is a street artist whose journey began on the streets of Paris in the early 1990s, where he practiced tagging. Upon arriving in San Francisco for his studies, he created his first street mural in 1994 alongside ZORK 531. This moment marked a turning point in his career and deepened his passion for urban art.

Back in France, he dedicated himself to painting in abandoned factories, spending entire days using these forgotten spaces as creative playgrounds. Although he pursued scientific studies at Paris 6, the call of the spray can proved too strong, and in 2004 he chose to fully devote himself to his art.

Today, his works are exhibited in Monaco and Paris, attesting to his recognition in the art world. Mathieu_1976 spends his days creating, both in the streets and in his studio. He is fascinated by the concept of the ephemeral. He often paints over his street works multiple times—sometimes dozens—allowing glimpses of previous layers to remain visible. His paintings thus oscillate between allegories of impermanence and representations of the eternal.