Arts preview: artist hRLck's Empire of Dirt shows his pirate instincts
A descendant of pirates, Cyril Buet (alias hRLck) is certain that he has the same rebellious blood running through his veins. The French street artist — whose show at Agnès b.'s Librairie Galerie uses mixed-media pieces involving canvases, metal trays, skateboards and a light box — doesn't always buy the materials.
EMPIRE OF DIRT
Agnès b.’s Librairie Galerie
A descendant of pirates, Cyril Buet (alias hRLck) is certain that he has the same rebellious blood running through his veins. The French street artist — whose show at Agnès b.'s Librairie Galerie uses mixed-media pieces involving canvases, metal trays, skateboards and a light box — doesn't always buy the materials.
hRLck uses everything from spray cans to pastels and markers to create his colourful works, which are often layered with text, codes, and symbols.
While the number stickers are collected surreptitiously from boxes in grocery stores, the giant metal plates, which he mentions with enthusiasm, are stolen from the street during late-night trips with his wife.
"It's very exciting to work on the metal trays, not only because I stole them," hRLck says.
His works offer multiple perspectives. The light box — another item obtained from the street — brings a different approach to the idea of a spiral-themed graphic; the phrase "sick to death" appears on top when illuminated.
All of his works look unexpectedly vivid when seen through a pair of 3D glasses, the result of a conscious effort to create layers that look as if they are intersecting with each other.
The artist describes his own style as "tribal, primitive street art", and the title "Empire of Dirt" denotes the contrast of "an empire, which is beautiful and enormous, and the dirt — something disgusting and sad," says hRLck, who has also created two murals on-site. "The dirt seems to be the end, but the empire is the way to rise."
The minotaur-like creature, a theme appearing in each piece, evokes a similar conflicted feeling. "When I create, I feel strong, but weak, too. It's like the half-human, half-monster icon. That seems to look very powerful and fiery, but is weak because it is just lines," says hRLck, who prefers not to disclose what the creature means to him.
"It's better for you to have your own interpretation — it is an incarnation of what you feel," he says.
However, hRLck did explain why he has decided to smash one of the four skateboards on the curb outside the gallery. Other than being a symbolic act which echoes the graffiti on it that reads "breaking the law", he says it's another instance of his strong "pirate instinct".
