In a moment in time when many in the mainstream media portray the urban ‘jungle’ as a place of menace where no one — concert-goers, cafe terrace denizens, sports fans, demonstrators, even policemen and women — is safe, so-called ‘street artists’ play an increasingly crucial role in reminding us that not just death but delight might be lurking on the corner. One of the modern miracle workers who has left his mark on the walls of Berlin, Bruxelles, Athens, and Paris, the appropriately monikered Fred Le Chevalier is currently being feted in the more formal settings of le Bon Marché in the toney 6eme arrondissement of Paris, the Cité des sciences et de l’industrie in the Park la Villette and, in the upper reaches of Belleville on the rue Cascades (#57), the gallery Eko Sato, where his solo exhibition We’ll Dance until the World Turns Around runs through Saturday. For the artist, one of the charms of his work created on more exposed urban surfaces is “the idea that one never knows if the collages are going to last five minutes or a year. This conciousness that they might disappear is part of the game. The idea of the ephemeral is part of the beauty of the action; that’s the paradox.” Taking Le Chevalier’s point, we’d dispute that for anyone who’s ever had his sensibility singed by ‘street art’ these admittedly impermanent tableaux are so ephemeral que ca. Above: “On dansera jusqu’à ce que le monde tourne rond,” Fred Le Chevalier, 35 x 35 cm. Ink on paper. Copyright Fred Le Chevalier and courtesy Galerie Eko Sato. — Paul Ben-Itzak
The Arts Voyager 