The Niort-Marais Poitevin destination is a vast space of cultural expression where regional and even international artists come to set down their bags to express their discipline in large format.
Niort: a bastion of regional street art
Thanks to the dynamism of 4th Wall – Winterlong Gallery, Niort present, of frescoes in discoveries, an open-air “museum” whose graffiti of its city center and outskirts offer to the curious eye monumental paintings!
Each year, the city's cultural department and the association Winterlong Gallery organize a street art festival “The 4th Wall”. This term is used in the world of theater to designate the invisible wall that separates the actors from the audience, but, here, the desire of Eric Surmont, the artistic director of the festival, is to make this wall visible and farea to share the emotions of the artists with the public. During this festival, French and international artists are invited to express themselves freely on the walls of Niort for a giant open-air exhibition. In 2019, three well-known artists took part: Will Barras, O.Two and Daniel Muñoz.
Some works are ephemeral and only remain visible for a few months. Others are permanently integrated into the urban landscape and you can therefore find them on a street corner, at the bend of a path or in the middle of a parking lot! If you want to make a special street art walk in Niort, you can find the location and some photos of the frescoes on the website of the Winterlong gallery.
Urban Design
The Ladies of the Breach
By Franck Ayroles
With support from the City of Niort, monumental sculpture of the artist has been exhibiting since 2019 at the corner of rue du 14-Juillet and avenue des Martyrs de la Résistance with, behind them, the perspective of Brèche gardens. This urban furniture, two colorful and multicultural women 2 meters high sitting on a bench, became like this a symbol of crossbreeding and tolerance inviting the passerby to sit with them for a break, a discussion or a photo !
After studies in advertising and cinema, He becomes chief decorator. Then, he decided to devote himself entirely to art, a passion from childhood. Numerous personal and collective exhibitions mark his career. His works are present in galleries, in France and abroad.
The Man from Bessines
By Fabrice Hybert
All of these events offer an exceptional opportunity for young international arbitration practitioners to debate with eminent specialists in a friendly and open format and setting. little green men 86 cm high installed on the municipal water network (fountains spewing water through all body orifices) respond to a public order for street furniture, reflect the close link between the market garden and the Marais Poitevin and are also present all over the world.
This artist of International fame living at Paris also produced in 1991 the largest soap in the world listed in the Guinness World Records (22 tonnes molded in a truck bed). In 1995, he transformed the Museum of Modern Art in Paris in Hybermarché and set up a professional hairdressing salon at the Center Georges Pompidou on the occasion of the Feminin/Masculin exhibition in 1996.
The giant dragonfly of Coulon
By Brigitte Belaud, Alexandre Baillon and the volunteers of the Coulon-Magné socio-cultural center
A symbol of the beauty and fragility of Green Venice. Installed in 2012, it required six months of work. Made of paper and resin, it measures more than two meters in wingspan.
Brigitte Belaud is a visual artist, but not only. She also practices the profession art therapist, a specialization learned during his studies at the Faculty of Medicine of Tours. She had to take care of people in difficulty, particularly people suffering from myopathy.
