ARTIK – I’m originally based in Paris and been painting since 2005.
I’ve started as a regular legal wall writer and was mainly focusing on tagging. As there were already a few other Artiks around the world, I tried to find my own tag that became a “logo” and I didn’t change it (so people would stop sending me pics of tags in Amsterdam asking if it was me).
I started painting in Paris suburbs with few people that stopped graffiti until I met my current crewmates in 2011, with whom I created the LTB crew (Le Travail Bâclé in French, Lame Tagging Bombers in English).
It made me discover teamwork when we were doing LTB rollers on track sides.
Then I moved to London and I am now between both cities.
I met my Man that became my best friend and we started The Roller Bros, “forcing” our non-roller friends to join us and spreading the good word around the globe.
The scene is more open and diversified in London, so we’ve met people from all over the world. That made me want to create a worldwide London crew called IMG, which stands for us ImMiGrants living in the UK.
My style, related to my graphic design background, made me want to stop the classic graffiti lettering I was quite bad at and made me want to focus on “clean” typography and use the screen glitches with its lovely colors and imperfections.
London’s roller scene was not really “active” when I arrived there so the high spots were kind of available. That is why I started to use roller poles and get the high reaches. When I traveled back to Paris, the scene was on the contrary very active and with all of the good spots taken, I had to find another idea to get higher. I remembered all of the rooftops that marked me when I was young, so I began to mix both, doing rollers on rooftops. The higher you can get, the longer it will last… I hope.
My references are in graffiti but also in graphic design, so I rate writers like Pref, Gary, Wide, Roids, Rever, Georgia Hill, Zorg …
My shout out goes to my first love and first crew LTB (SLANE, DEVIZ, EROIK, OPLA, ZORG, DERAPE, BOUMER), to the IMG crew, my international Roller Brothers and Sisters (they’ll know who they are), the lovely and super talented CAENO, and my favorite UK writer (and secret lover), MAN.
That’s all folks !
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