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Paris Street Art: Dive Deep with this Thorough Guide

Do a deep dive into Paris street art and you’ll find a messy collage of color, culture and cheek. This tour of street art in Paris will show you four neighborhoods (and a few extra spots) for finding the best concentration of murals and graffiti in the city.

Paris street art: Peanuts mural in the 11th arrondissement
You can find this bit of Peanuts parody in the 13th Arrondissment, near the Nacionale metro station.

Why Paris Street Art is So Unique

According to Wide Walls, street art in Paris is very specific to the city’s history. In Bushwick New York, street art and graffiti evolved out of the hip hop movement. However in Paris, the seeds were planted during the avant garde period in the 1960’s. Avant garde artists were using posters and decollage techniques for their works. This evolved into a street art form that employs stickers and paper “paste-ups” which even today are regularly plastered all over the city.

Stenciling is another street art form popularized in Paris. The artist Blek le Rat starting using stencils in Paris in the 1980’s. He was inspired by the stenciling technique deployed by Italy’s fascist propaganda machine during World War II. Blek le Rat stenciled a series of life sized rats all over the Paris and a new art form was born.

(Diversion: there are many exterminator shops all over central Paris which feature taxidermied rats in their display windows. What’s with Paris and the rats?)

The world famous street artist Banksy was so inspired by Blek le Rat that he adopted stenciling for his works which feature ironic pranks and anti-capitalist messages. Jef Aerosol, an artist from Lille France, also adopted the form, using stencils to profile pop culture characters.

As with many cities, the Parisian street art scene is still operating in a grey area between legal and illegal. Some of the large scale murals in the 13th Arrondissement are legally commissioned and Mur Oberkampf has an ongoing program in the 11th. However, you will find plenty of street art in Paris that is as furtively painted as the grittiest alleyway in London’s Brick Lane. So, while you are admiring the large murals, keep a keen eye out for those guerrilla paste-ups and stencils because they will give you a lesson on Paris street art history.

Read more: Find out more about Banksy and street art in his hometown of Bristol.

Paris street artist Seth. Piece in the 11th arr
The Paris street artist Seth often paints brightly colored yet tender portraits of children. This one is in the 13th Arrondissement.

Read More: See more of Paris with this four day itinerary.

Four Neighborhoods for Finding Street Art in Paris

There is street art all over Paris but there are two neighborhoods in particular with a well established concentration of it. They include the 13th Arrondissement and the Belleville (adjacent to the 11th Arrondissement). In addition, there are several canal areas which are up and coming, including the Saint-Denis and Canal de l’Ourcq.

Street art in Paris Belleville. Colorful batik figures By Toz FBC
These batik figures by Toz FBC really popped off the street corner in the 11th Arrondissement

Street Art Tour of the Belleville & 11th Arrondissement

The Belleville/11th is probably the best neighborhood to explore street art in Paris. Like so many great street art areas, including San Francisco’s Mission or Chicago’s Pilsen, it’s a working class immigrant neighborhood that is battling gentrification. Neighborhoods like this attract artists who need cheap lodging and older buildings to practice on. The Belleville is also great because you’ll find a mix of both commissioned pieces and guerilla works.

If you want to wander the neighborhood on your own, the street art map below will show you the key streets. However, I recommend that you take a street art tour with Street Art Paris. It was the best €15 I spent in Paris (not counting the cheese). They provide a thorough tour of the neighborhood with a well informed guide.

Belleville Paris street art mural by Txemy

Look carefully at this piece by Txemy and you’ll see several different kinds of spray techniques. There is also a little mosaic by Paris street artist Space Invader tucked into the upper right corner.

Street art int he 11th arr of Paris

This piece typifies the unique cultural history of Parisian street art. You see a mash-up of spray, paint, stickers and stencils. The red hearts have been spread all over Paris by a collective called the Peace and Love Crew. The yellow and turquoise portrait is by Zelda Bomba and the cartoony clocks are by Wekup. The creepy spider is by local artist Ardif who has created a computer generated “urban zoo” out of animals that are part organic and part steam-punk.

Paris street art stencil by Wrdsmth

These two pieces also reinforce Paris’ love affair with the stencil. The typewriter is by Wrdsmth, who you can also find in my article on LA street art. The “grow more, buy less” message also typifies anti gentrification messages that you can see throughout the 11th.

Spray paint can mural Paris 11th Arrondissement
Paris street art mural of a small boy
Paris mural in Belleville: cat
Graffiti alley in Paris Rue Denoyez
The Rue Denoyes is a riot of graffiti
Parc de Belleville mural on piling

The Parc de Belleville sits on a hill with great views overlooking Paris. There is a series of pilings with whimsical portraits and more murals on the sports field below.

Read up on Paris with this epic list of 32 books set there

Street Art Tour of the 13th Arrondissement

In the Belleville, even the commissioned pieces were on a small scale, but in the 13th Arrondissement, they’ve gone big. This XXL walls project is a collaboration between StreetArt13 and the town hall for the district. You’ll find home grown artists like Space Invader, but also worldwide talent like Vils, Shepard Fairey and Conner Harrington.

You can take a formal tour of this district, but I chose do it on my own. Most of the murals are concentrated around the strip between the Nacionale and Chevaleret metro stations and they are so huge that they are hard to miss. You can also print and take along StreetArt13’s map.

Paris mural Shepard Fairey 13th arrondissement

The muralist Shepard Fairey is best known for his Obama campaign poster but he was also commissioned to do three murals in the 13th. This one shows a bit of French patriotism. He sums up the whole ethos of street art with his website tagline:

“Manufacturing quality dissent since 1989”
—-Shepard Fairey

Fairey gets around, I’ve also spotted his work in Berlin.

13th Arrondissement Paris mural Peanuts

Charles Shultz would roll over in his grave if he saw this but I love the dark parody. These murals aren’t on the StreetArt13 map but you can find them just west of the Nacionale metro station under both sides of the tracks.

Madonna mural in Paris by Inti
by Inti
Paris mural by Pantonio in 13th arr
These birds by Pantonio manage to be both graceful and menacing at the same time.
13th Arrondissement cat mural by C15

Once again, in the French tradition, Paris street artist C15 created a massive stencil in the 13th.

Paris mural by DFace women in blue

The artist Dface has an Andy Warhol vibe featuring characters that always seem to be skirting danger. He has two pieces in the 13th and you can also see more of his work in Reykjavik and New York City.

If you love this sort of tall and skinny street art, you should definitely explore the Silo Art trail.

The Canals of Saint-Denis

Starting in 2016, the Saint-Denis district began developing a “street art avenue” along the Saint-Denis canal. Every year they add new works and you can take a stroll to find them using this map.

(the following four images are courtesy of Tan Ban Nguyen who lives in Paris and runs the Travel to Work blog.)

Paris Saint Denis Canal murals blue cat by Marko 93
This cat mural is by Marko 93
Paris street art Saint Denis canal pink mural
Saint Denis Canal in Paris: dinosaur mural
Saint Denis canal street art in Paris: Guate Mao portrait of a boy
This beautiful portrait by Guate Mao is just one of many that he placed in Saint Denis in 2018.

This video shows what’s up on the canals. It is courtesy of Paris Mur Mur, check out their Facebook page for regular posts featuring new works.

The Canal de l’Ourcq

The banks of the Canal de l’Orcq are filled with graffiti and murals. In recent years, various events like the “Canal’s Summer Festival” (Eté du Canal) have expanded and increased the cultural value of Canal de L’Ourcq with new commissioned works. However, according to Elisa from the World in Paris, the works turn over frequently so the art on the canal is always evolving.

Elisa recommends tackling the full twenty three kilometer canal by bike. Her self-guided bike tour covers interesting spots like Parc de la Villette, the Géode, or the suburb of Pantin with its industrial heritage.

If you would rather walk, you can find the Eté du Canal festival commissions clustered in a couple of locations. The easiest to access is in the Bassin de la Villette (accessed from the Jaurés metro from the southwest and Porte de la Villette from the northeast). If you are willing to do a combo of RER, metro and/or taxi, you can find more murals further east in Pantin, Bobigny and Bondy. You can use this map (or the one below) to find them. If you walk the full route between Bassin de las Villette to Bondy, it’s about seven kilometers.

france Paris Canal Ourcq musician mural
Photo courtesy of Elisa from the World in Paris

Two More Spots for Urban Art in Paris

The Paris Sewer Museum

Remember those rats I mentioned above? Well, you can find them in the Sewer Museum. It’s just the sort of gritty urbex experience that any street art lover will want to experience. Not only will you learn about the infrastructure of Paris’ dark and wet underbelly, but they have adorable (?) murals of rats, bacterium and creepy crawlies.

Paris sewer museum rat mural

Urban Art Galleries

Wide Walls has compiled a list of ten galleries and art spaces that feature urban art. Several of them are located in the 11th Arrondissement so you could work them into a self-guided tour of the neighborhood.

Street art in Belleville Paris France
This mural was a collaboration between Michael Beerens, FKDL, Wayne and ADM ZPL.

Paris Street Art Tours

Street Art Paris

I took their Belleville tour but they also run street art tours to the Left Bank and Montmartre. There is a listing on Trip Advisor for “Underground Paris” but it’s the same company. Check dates and book on their website or read reviews on Trip Advisor.

Street Art Tour Paris (with Kasia)

This group runs tours to the Belleville and Montmartre, as well as the 13th and more out of the way places like Vitry-sur-Seine and Canal de l’Ourcq. They run public tours on the weekends and do private tours every day. Check their website for availability or read reviews on Trip Advisor.

Paris mural by Faile
By Faile

Paris Street Art Map

This map will identifies some specific spots, streets and canals for designing a self-guided tour.

Learn More About Street Art

Study great street art in other cities by checking out my guides to:
Top Street Art Cities in the World | Books About Street Art|Street Art Festivals | Buenos Aires | Bogota | San Diego | San Francisco | Los Angeles |Nashville | Chicago | New York | Havana | London | Reykjavik  | Belfast | Bristol | Berlin | Paris | Estonia | Rural Australia | Melbourne | Honolulu | Salt Lake City

You can also find fresh articles from other bloggers on my Pinterest street art board.

More Paris Resources

The street art in Paris is a world class amalgam of stencils, paste-ups and large walls. Like Paris itself, a lot of it is beautiful. But, it’s also edgy, messy, political and fun. Go exploring and find out for yourself.

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Share Paris street art with your friends and pin this post:

Maria

Monday 12th of November 2018

Street Art Tour Paris with Kasia runs tours every day, the public tours - same as in case of Underground Paris - are scheduled on the weekends.

Carol Guttery

Monday 12th of November 2018

Thank you for clarifying your schedule. I've updated the text above.

Giulia

Sunday 11th of November 2018

Paris is definitely on my bucket list, I'm going to bookmark this post! Have you been to Vitry Sur Seine? There, the street artist C215 has curated a whole city project, I'm looking forward to see that as well!

Carol Guttery

Monday 12th of November 2018

I didn't make it there. But I love C215's massive stencils!

Ali

Saturday 10th of November 2018

I love this! Paris is now definitely on my list to explore some street art. Thanks for the tips!

Carol Guttery

Monday 12th of November 2018

Thanks for the visit! Come back anytime.

Doreen Pendgracs

Tuesday 6th of November 2018

Thx for this post. I had no idea that Paris had such an abundance of #streetart

Carol Guttery

Wednesday 7th of November 2018

They do!

Jane

Tuesday 6th of November 2018

So cool! I love street art, and Paris seems to have more elevated examples of it versus the typical graffiti (which all seems to have the same style, regardless of which country you are in)

Comments are closed.