Even from afar, the youthful crowd armed with spray cans in front of the Fondation Cartier announces an unusual Parisian event. This cultural center, housed in a futuristic glass building in the 14th arrondissement and conceived by  architect Jean Nouvel, always manages to cut a bold profile on the French art scene with interesting exhibits.

A Show by and for Youth

This time, for its show "Né Dans La Rue - Graffiti" ("Born in the Streets - Graffiti)", the museum has temporarily surrounded itself with high removable wood palisades and invited anonymous budding artists to come express themselves.   Kids you would usually only come across in less staid neighborhoods are happy busily decorating the panels - in the hope that precisely their creation will know the honor of being  moved into the Fondation’s garden and become part of the show. The glass panels of the building itself are decorated with two-storey high red and silver tags by San Francisco's by now far from anonymous  artist Barry McGee, quoted to consider graffiti as a  form of encrypted communication and "street dialogue".  

It's an exhibition which speaks the language of - and to - youth and is being visited by a younger public than usual for art exhibits here.  A hint to parents planning to tour Paris this summer or autumn with their easily bored teenagers: Take them to this show and you will score points - not least thanks to the street beat music accompanying the visual effects.

From Vandals to Recognized Talent

The thread running through this energizing creative experience is the journey of graffiti and tagging from being considered vandalism to becoming an accepted expression of popular art.   It illustrates how  the phenomenon spread from rundown neighborhoods in and around New York City at the very end of the '60s  and the early '70s to the 21st century's "cités" and railway tunnels in France and other countries, and  includes the specific stamp which Brazilian "pixadores" are setting today on their São Paolo's high rises.

In fact, for this show, Fondation Cartier invited some twenty taggers, graffiti  and wall paint artists from all over the world to come do their thing directly on the premises.  And street art is everywhere in and outside the building - even along the corridor to the restrooms in the basement.  Explanations in French and English make it easy to follow the history of graffiti and  its various styles and techniques.