the street artist HeartCraft sticks his stickers to open minds

They run on the walls of Paris. Perhaps you have already crossed the athletes of HeartCraft at the bend of a street or on his Instagram account? Some wear a prosthesis, others are in a wheelchair … and all pass the same torch: a heart, in which two beings are coiled and embrace each other.

This heart is HeartCraft’s trademark. For four years, the French street artist has been sowing love throughout Paris, sometimes in Lyon too, or in Lisbon. He sticks his stickers on walls, letter boxes, flower boxes. Even the Autolib ‘terminals have gone there in their time!

Anonymity requires, we do not know much about him, except that he is also an actor, playwright, model. And that the desire to take to the streets was born from an accumulation of frustrations. “When I started, we were in the midst of the American and French elections [de 2016-2017], with speeches of fear, withdrawal and rejection, he explains. I wanted to send a message of benevolence and openness to others ”. Never mind, he floods the street with his wild collages, and gradually makes his heart evolve: LGBT heart, veiled, of all colors … “Suddenly, I realized that inclusion was at the heart of my job “.

“What is not represented does not exist”

The theme of disability then emerged. He is also one of the rare street artists to take up the subject. First, by immortalizing disabled athletes: sprinter Felix Streng, surfer Bethany Hamilton, swimmer Théo Curin… “I discovered crazy images, crazy stories, with life-changing journeys, which are also real sources of motivations. All of a sudden you have people saying to you: “It’s worth fighting, no, don’t give up! “”

But HeartCraft also tells us about everyday life, with a couple making love: one is able-bodied, the other in a wheelchair. A simple and fair image about the sexuality of people with disabilities. “What is not represented does not exist,” says HeartCraft. This is its engine: tirelessly showing the difference, to make it exist. Always with this slogan, which he hammers with a bomb on the sidewalks: “Love in power!” “.

Print the retina of passers-by

His past as an actor is never far away, HeartCraft also likes to draw on poets to give meaning to his approach. In the middle of a conversation, he launches a punchline by Pablo Neruda: “Despite everything, I still have absolute faith in the destiny of man, the conviction that we are increasingly aware of as we approach great tenderness”.

Brotherhood, otherness, trust in humanity … Could HeartCraft be guilty of abuse of candor? On the contrary, he seems to have an implacable plan: that his stickers are imprinted on the retina of passers-by, that they “penetrate, he says, into the eyes and brains of people”. Closer to the eyes, closer to the heart?

Where can I see HeartCraft’s “sti-cœurs”?

The sticker is an ephemeral art, but some miraculously escape cleaning, degradation and other thefts from “amateurs” of street-art. To be sure to come across his creations, HeartCraft recommends that Parisians go for a stroll around:

– Place Sainte-Opportune (1st arrondissement)

– rue des Archives (4th), at the intersection with rue des Blancs-Manteaux (collaboration with pixel artist Zigom art)

– rue Léon, at the intersection with rue Myrrha (18th arrondissement)

– rue de la Tombe-Issoire (14th), between rue d’Alésia and rue Saint-Yves

– In mid-December, he will work on a wall in rue des Récollets (10th arrondissement), on the theme of the Paralympic games.