PARIS.- By driving over expensive spray cans with a car or by casually burning freshly made canvases, Shoe reenacts the arrogance of capitalism, in a neoliberal world where sourcing painting tools is a luxury to many. This nonchalant attitude is an ironic take to the current socioeconomic climate, as well as a hint to the contemporary status of the art world, often seen as increasingly elitist.

Dutch Niels 'Shoe' Meulman is a visual artist, famous worldwide for his gestural paintings which reveal vivid traces of graffiti and calligraphy. He revolutionized the art of writing when he initiated the Calligraffiti movement, claiming “a word is an image and writing is painting”.

Being a graffiti pioneer from Amsterdam since 1979 he is renowned for being one of the first European graffiti writer. Shoe tagged along with New York counterparts legends such as Dondi White, Rammellzee and Keith Haring in the 1980s. Equally influenced by the great painters of Abstract Expressionism, he gradually found his own way to translate street attitude to his individual practice.

“As an introduction, I recommend starting by watching the video showcasing the creation process of Niels ‘Shoe’ Meulman's new series. As a devoted enthusiast and chronicler of street art's evolution, I have maintained a constant awareness of Shoe’s contributions. I remember him from my teenage years as he stands as one of the pioneering graffiti artists in Europe and particularly within the Netherlands, his country of origin. During that era, practitioners of this nascent art form were scarce, yet it was destined to reshape artistic creation and its presentation to the public for the following decades.

However, what truly captivated me upon witnessing Shoe’s latest experiments was not just his legendary status or his acclaimed role as the progenitor of the calligraffiti movement. It was the resonance of his current artistic endeavors that began to redefine the entire landscape. Within these expansive canvases, one finds the dynamic essence of the urban movement—its principles, its messages—meticulously encapsulated. Delving into the video elucidates the profound respect these artworks pay to both the historical lineage of artists who have left an indelible mark and their seamless integration into the contemporary milieu.

The overt as well as the veiled references within these paintings serve as a magnificent tribute to Shoe's four decades of artistic dedication. Simultaneously, they celebrate the maturation of a movement that has acquired an unparalleled potency over the course of its own forty-year journey.”

- Magda Danysz