The Artist is in Residence: The Paint-Covered Former Artist Squat in Paris

In the middle of Châtelet’s busy commercial streets, lies a Haussmann building covered in neon paint and a comically large pair of eyes looking right at you. What was once an abandoned Crédit Lyonnais building became a magical art collective with four floors of galleries.

 

Welcome to 59 Rivoli.

You walk up the winding stairs covered in scribbles on the staircases, telling you to leave the world of the ‘regular’ and ‘safe’, and venture on to the wild side. Maybe the last advice on taking some heroin in the last staircase isn’t the brightest idea but… you get the point. The walls are covered in more writing and drawings, and a man in his 50s with his unkept beard (a look he could pull off) and paint covered old t-shirt is filling the pencil sketch of a person with acrylic paint. Hey, I guess artists do color in the lines… as long as the lines are governed by them.

It feels like you are stepping into an artist’s studio, because that’s exactly what you are doing. You would have artists from all around the world chatting inside, and sometimes offering you the clementine they are snacking on. Things are moving, things are alive, and you are absorbing it all. In one room you would have an artist painting exactly the streets in front of the building. In another, a Japanese artist is splattering paint all over a bare canvas with the sun peeking through the shades.

The vibe you get in 59 Rivoli is exactly what you’d expect: messy, unapologetic, and irreverent.

During the Belle Epoque, Montmartre used to where artists like Monet, Degas, Mondrian, and Picasso, among others, reside and create. I’d like to think that 59 Rivoli could be modern day Montmartre. 

Exhibitions and rooms change quite frequently, but I enjoyed Gaspard Delanoe’s space the most. I think it was the largest space, covered with metro stubs in one corner, and old photographs in the other. His work includes old classical paintings with witty text painted over them in neon colored paints, like “Si je chope celui qui m’a mis sur Instagram” (If I catch the one who put me on Instagram), “Non merci je n’en veux plus” (No thank you I do not want more), and “Je t’aime jusqu’à l’aéroport” (I love you until the airport).

How to get there:

59 Rivoli, Paris 75004

Take the 1, 4, 7, 11, or 14 to Châtelet and take exit 7. Rue des Lavandières. Head northeast and you should see the building, it’s across H&M.

[FREE ENTRY] They are open everyday from 1-8pm except on Mondays, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. They also hold concerts every Saturday and Sunday in the the ground-floor gallery starting at 6pm.

Read more about 59 Rivoli here, and Atlas Obscura does a good one too here.