Zalez

A French stencil and graffiti artist, Zalez studied design, architecture and fine art before painting walls with a Toulouse collective of the 2000s, Zone Agréée Libertaire Éduquée à Zapper, which staged unauthorised street shows and happenings and gave him his name. He later moved to canvas and coloured drawing, exhibiting in England, Spain, Hungary and Hong Kong. His work deals with female identity, pairing the tradition of the nude with the techniques and critical edge of contemporary urban art. For the third Points de Vue festival in Bayonne (October 2019), he painted "Les Nautiquettes" on rue Albéric Poitrenaud. It shows the women pelota players of the Société Nautique, whose nickname nods to the suffragettes, as stencilled silhouettes framed by a musical stave.