A look at urban art in the ardent city (part II)

Jean-Luc Jonlet, an amateur photographer from Liège showcases a relatively unknown piece of the Ardent City's heritage in this exhibitions, one that is often ephemeral.

Urban interventions, which are the main subjects of this photographic series, bring our city to life. They inevitably restore the status of the work of art in question. Some practices are illegal; others are public orders. So what place is there for this art form? 

Through his photographs, Jean-Luc Jonlet tries to offer us a new interpretation of this hidden heritage, which is sometimes neglected.

Jean-Luc Jonlet curiously and methodically explores all the “abandoned” sites and streets in Liège, as well as those on its outskirts (Herstal/Seraing/Bierset, etc.), which are frequented and decorated by graffiti artists and taggers. Hailed for their varied styles and approaches, which are often full of common sense and artistic qualities, these graphic depictions are, in his own words, "ephemeral witnesses and too-little-known expressions and contemporary democratic claims (semi-legal) from young adults who encounter the excesses of our dehumanising capitalist societies! Most are not/or are no longer "bad-boys" and have a real talent, which my photographic exhibitions try to promote and honour.”
 
Jean-Luc Jonlet's photographic approach goes back 40 years, and has been mainly expressed in reports, conferences and exhibitions where he shares the emotions (relational and aesthetic) he felt during his numerous travels across the five continents.
 
Practical information: FREE exhibition

Photography by Jean-Luc Jonlet
Copyright: Jean-Luc Jonlet – Detail of the "green tropicalis" fresco – Rue Chéravoie (2017) by Didier Jaba Matthieu