The first street art piece I want to show you is actually one of my favorites, conveniently located at 1435 Westheimer, about thirty seconds from my house in case you’re interested. The #biscuitpaintwall was created by the very talented French-born Street Artist Sebastian Boileau of Eyeful Art Murals and Design, more commonly known in the local art world as Mr. D. The piece is painted on the side wall of Biscuit Home, a cute and quirky furniture store. It was commissioned in early 2014 as a way to reflect the store’s fun and original vibe, and in this is it certainly successful.
Eyeful Art was established by Mr. D in 2000 following his migration from France, where the Street Art scene is one of the most vibrant in the world. French Street Artists such as the well-known Invader have changed the face of urban art for everyone, giving the genre credibility and the sort of elegance that only the French can achieve. I mean, Invader studied at L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts – the most influential art school in the world which boasts alumni like Degas, Millet, and Delacroix – this is not merely vandals making a mess of their cityscapes, they mean business over there!
I’m getting off topic, but the point is, we are very blessed to have our very own piece of the French Street Art scene here in Houston. Eyeful Art has been growing in success and coverage in the last decade and a half, serving both public and private sectors in its large-scale mission of urban beautification. Mr. D is perhaps best known for his 2014 project, The Biggest Mural in Houston, a fantastic and huge-scale (11,000 square feet!!) modern twist on Michelangelo’s most famous work, The Creation of Adam that depicts a God-like figure holding a can of spray-paint – hold that thought though, I’ll be talking more about it next week.
Anyway, if you find yourself in Montrose in the near future, I highly recommend checking out the Biscuit paintwall. A great view, and even better selfies.
Photograph by my lovely and talented other half, Adam Foret.
Sarah Stevens is a British-born fine art consultant living and working in Houston since January 2015. This article originally appeared on her blog, artfuldodgy.com, and is re-posted with her permission.
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11 comments
Thanks for starting up a feature on the Houston street art scene! I tried my hand at it, but unless you’re Wiley or Gonzo247 it seems, art gets taken down pretty fast here in Houston :/
I like this poured-paint mural, but I hate his Jehovah with a spray can on Fannin (visible just barely from my bathroom window). Its kitschiness which might be tolerable on a much smaller scale, but at that size, its vacuity punches the viewer in the face.
A building with another of his murals just a couple of blocks over on Main just got torn down. (You can see it in the video in this Swamplot post: http://swamplot.com/cant-get-enough-midtown-superblock-new-video-captures-every-puddle-blade-of-grass-mud-patch/2015-03-24/ .) Can’t say I was sorry to see it go!
While I agree with you about that awful 80s disco design mural, Mr. Boyd, I must disagree with you on the other two murals. The poured paint, while pleasant enough, is just tame decoration. The giant god as graffiti artist is splendidly ridiculous, embarrassing, audacious (bodacious!), ferociously dumb, and awesomely Houston. C’mon!
Decoration is highly underrated.
Is Mr. D related to MR. BRAINWASH?
Not as far as I know.. Both great artists though!
Rainey/Bill, who approved Sarah as a writer here? Serious question. “Both Great Artists”???
Please respond. I’m going to paper city for my art criticism if things don’t change around here.
OK, Que! Please send your better article about Houston Street Art, 500-1200 words, with pictures, to [email protected].
Going to miss your snark, Bill. It looks like “que” likes reading articles on here that are well written, but that does not necessarily mean that “que” cares to write. Just like an art writer that reviews a show and then the artist says, “ok, here is my studio, you come in here and make it better”. Argument sounds great in Junior High crit.
This isn’t snark, this is a real invitation. Street art has a particular problem with the media. Being semi-clandestine, enamored of it’s underground status, and fiercely partisan and factional, it’s difficult to find people in the know are willing to stick their necks out to write about it critically.
EL James. Photo: Michael Lionstar