Gérard Zlotykamien
Born in 1940 in Paris (France). Lives and works in Argenteuil.
Following his participation in the Third Paris Biennale, Gérard Zlotykamien quickly withdrew from the gallery-dominated art world to begin painting in the street. As early as 1963, his strange spray-painted silhouettes began to appear on the walls of Paris. These figures, which the artist dubbed éphémères (“ephemerals”), are reminiscent of the human silhouettes left on the walls of Hiroshima as a result of the atomic explosion of 1945. During the 1970s, much of Paris was under construction, and the artist began to gain recognition for the ghostly silhouettes he spray painted onto abandoned buildings and construction sites throughout the city, where they seemed to bear witness to the disappearance of things. Since that time, Gérard Zlotykamien has painted his éphémères in numerous cities, occasionally leading to troubles with the local authorities, some earning him much media attention.
Gerard Zlotykamien