Artist of the Day / Tarek Ben Yakhlef / France

To call Tarek’s illustrated books ‘comic books’ is like calling ‘Maus’ a comic book.  They are that, but so much more.  I see Tarek as a sort of Renaissance street artist.

“Graduate of the Sorbonne (University Paris I) in medieval history and art history, Tarek released Paris Tonkar in 1991 at the age of 19 years: the first art book published in Europe dedicated to Spraycan art in Paris. It has become a reference book for all amateurs of urban art and specialists of Hip-hop.”

“He has won many awards including the Saint-Michel for Best Screenplay in 2007 for Sir Arthur Benton. That same year, his work on this series has been exhibited at the Caen’s Memorial for four months: it was the first time a comic was well highlighted in a place for history and memory. His comics for young people are regularly used in schools since 2004.”

“_street art project  male and female characters that I painted and then placed in the street in broad daylight.  My collages are sometimes placed in the street by artists with whom I work as Gregos, Bastek or people who want to participate in my art project.”

“For twenty years he has worked and reflects on different artistic expressions: comics, graffiti, urban art, photography, video, Arabic calligraphy.  the year 2010 marked a turning point in his artistic career began as a leading journal dedicated to urban art and graffiti: Paris Tonkar magazine and regular contributor to International Hip-Hop, Cosmic Hip-Hop, Fatcap magazine and Lectrics.”

http://tareklesite.wordpress.com