C215 in Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv and Jerusalem streets this week are host to over 30 new street portraits from Parisian street artist C215.


AN INTERVIEW GIVEN TO ARTASTY.COM (MARCH 2008)

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 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.

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.