Zevs

ZEVS (Saverne, France, 1977)
“Liquidated Chanel,” 2017.
Etching on paper. Copy IX/X.
Signed and inscribed in pencil.
Measurements: 132 x 80 cm.
This work is an example of the visual language developed by Zevs, one of the most renowned figures in contemporary urban art. The piece incorporates his famous “liquidated logos” technique, through which he intervenes in and transforms icons of large corporations and luxury brands, depicting them as if they were melting or disintegrating before the viewer’s eyes. Through this visual device, Zevs questions the symbolic power of brands in contemporary society and reflects on the mechanisms of consumption, advertising, and the construction of value in global culture. His images, which appear simple and immediate, conceal a sharp critique of the ubiquity of commercial logos and the influence they exert on collective identity. In this work, the distortion of the logo is not merely an aesthetic gesture, but an invitation to reconsider the relationship between art, the market, and society, prompting the viewer to engage in a critical reflection on the symbols that dominate the contemporary visual landscape.
Zevs is a French street artist known for his “Liquidated” technique. He was one of the first influential graffiti artists in Paris in the 1990s. Over the years, he has taken on various personas, such as “The Shadow Flasher” and “The Serial Ad Killer.” In 1998, he moved away from traditional graffiti to create “electric shadows” with spray paint on the streets of Paris. In this series, he created the outlines of shadows around common street objects, such as streetlights, benches, and in the Paris metro. The objects’ original shadows disappeared in daylight, but the “electric shadows” remained as a reminder of the city’s nighttime appearance. The artist gained popularity among art lovers with “Visual Kidnapping,” a term he coined when he cut the Lavazza model out of a billboard in central Berlin and wrote “Visual Kidnapping—Pay Now.” Zevs has since used “Visual Kidnapping” as a means to critique commercialization, painting over billboards for major fashion brands, including Gap, H&M, and Yves Saint Laurent. Between 2002 and 2005, Zevs’s work focused on logos and dripping. He uses the logos’ original colors and reworks them with dripping paint. This overflowing paint gives the logo an appearance of dissolution, altering the recognizable brand and thereby commenting on its ubiquity and, yet, the instability of its existence in today’s world. Some of the famous logos that have been subjected to Zevs’ “Liquidation” include Chanel, McDonald’s, Giorgio Armani, Louis Vuitton, Coca-Cola, and Apple.