Papa Mesk: A French Street Art Figure For Over 30 Years

Hi there Papa Mesk, to get started, tell us how your passion for Street Art was born...

My first steps in graffiti started in 1985 with the appearance of the first tags on the walls of Paris. My brother "PICT" was taking a lot of pictures of stencils and graffiti at that time. We immediately shared this passion and started creating our own in 1986.

Founding member of the UTP Crew, can you often return to the history of this collective. To what extent did it contribute to the development of your style?

The " Underground Tribal Painterz " was an association of the graffiti artists: PICT, Vatos, Ranx, Hem, Number6, Move and Reas. Each of them had a unique style that naturally influenced my own thereafter. This association was founded in 1989. We painted our first "frescoes" later that year. 

When you're working on canvas, how does a session start? 

I like to start my paintings instinctively, without a predefined plan and without sketching. I like this total freedom of expression. Mistakes are often part of the final composition, or even highlighted. It's part of my freedom of gesture. 

I start with a spray can or marker with different colored inks. In a second session, I add a lot of details with fine Posca.

At what point do you consider a work to be finished?

A work is never finished. Sometimes I go back to the paintings I did 20 years ago to make them evolve because my vision has changed. When I moved my studio, I rediscovered old paintings that I had been storing. Putting them together with my new paintings made me want to rework them and bring them up to date.

How did you experience the transition from walls to canvas?

It took me a while to adapt to these new formats. It was about one or two years before I could claim to have a real mastery of these new media. It was almost harder to create in small and more detailed space than in human scale with large flat colors on walls that were two meters high. Because graffiti was originally designed to be seen in large, thick strokes. The transition to canvas was not easy!

There are also small objects covered entirely in graffiti in your gallery: trains, buses, spray paint cans and even a Japanese fan. How did you choose them?

I have always liked to work on small urban vehicles such as trucks, trains, buses, etc. These miniature objects are, in my opinion, the ideal medium for graffiti because their street symbolism is strong. These miniature objects are in my eyes the ideal support to make graffiti because they carry a strong street symbolism. I love to use figurines that represent part of the street, it's a great way to bring street art culture into your home. 

What message do you wish to convey through your work? 

My first message is positivity. Creating, doing graffiti for me, is like offering flowers to people. We give a little breathing space to the viewers with a desire to share joy!

The first graffiti appeared to combat the greyness of walls and concrete. We wanted to bring colour to the streets, towns and cities. We wanted to show that we were there.

Sometimes there can be more political messages: I'm currently doing a series where I'm hijacking well-known logos to create words with them that contradict what they're intended to reflect.

Often, for over 20 years, I have been running workshops with children on housing estates. I try to pass on my knowledge. I go into schools, run workshops, explain graffiti techniques, the history of graffiti and street art, and some of them have gone on to become graffiti artists and graphic designers.