Interview with C215

C215, is it a code? Why this name?

C215 corresponds to my name Chris, but could also be a cell number in which I could have spent too much time



Where are you from? What's your background?

I am originally from Paris, I've studied a lot, with 2 masters in history and art, and some foreign languages.
I used to work in import/export, in the decoration area.
It was a bit too much for me and I decided to quit everything when my daughter, Nina was born, and came back to my true passion.



How would you define your work and what inspires you?

I do stencil on all supports and the street is what I prefer.
My favourite’s artists are the classics of the big centuries and for the more modern ones Pignon Ernest stay the basis.
Next, there were meetings and shocks, Carricondo, Swoon, and my friend Dan23 with whom I evolved for the last 2 years



What are the essential tools you use to create your pieces?

Everything I find.
I do not have any definite tools.
I like to build my work depending in contexts and this applies to the tools I also use.



Do you see a difference in the way street art is perceived in France and the rest of Europe/World?

Each place, each town and country has its own conception.
In France, "street art" has a very low credit, especially by the contemporary galleries, even if a number of French artists are some of the best street artists in the world.
Space Invaders, Zevs, JR, L'Atlas and André, are extremely proficient and create some really original work. They do expose worldwide. It's not the case for everybody and some must carry on trying to be original to arrive at the same level.



How do you choose your images and where they are placed in the street?

My images are the result of meeting with models and photographers.
They all mean something, the beggars, the refugees, the orphans. Broken people rejected by the society and capitalism.
I placed these images in "nonplaces", in the streets and on devalued supports, tagged and rusty doors, teared paste-up, broken or burned walls and some bins that I particularly like.



Are you in a crew, do you work with other artists?
I managed an association who gathered more than 200 artists for 2 years, with a satisfying collective result.
It's now belonging to the past and I now grant myself some personal time, except with one of my closest partners DAN23 (www.dan23.com) and B of Awake Studio (www.awakestudio.com), with whom I will entirely repaint a rundown factory in Strasbourg in June.
It will be something not to be missed.



What’s coming up in the next few months? Show etc…
All my news and future show can be found on my MySpace, www.myspace.com/c215.
I will be leaving soon to Brazil for a personal show of my daughter portraits at the Plastik Gallery. I also will paint a social centre in Sao Paulo with some portraits of street Childs who visit the centre.
In May, I will be joining a collective show in Bristol; the theme will be "working people".
In June, I will participate to a stencil festival in Warsaw.
Also in June, another festival, called graffiti Kosmopolite in the north of Paris (Bagnolet), to promote the exceptional book STENCIL HISTORY X (www.myspace.com/stencilhistoryx).
Finally, in October I will be in Melbourne, Australia for a new solo show. January will be Los Angeles at Carmichael Gallery.