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French artist Clet Abraham has alters street signs
He is every council’s worst nightmare but artist Clet Abraham has a serious message to get across. Forget Banksy. This classically trained artist, who now lives in Florence, has been sneaking around cities across Europe in the middle of the night and strategically placing stickers on street signs to alter their meanings. And while passers-by may crack a smile when they see the humorous signage, Abraham hopes people will think twice next time they are asked to follow an instruction.
Abraham’s thought-provoking works of guerrilla art hope to challenge the way society restricts itself with rules and regulations. He believes signs are stopping individual expression and thought and many of his pieces of work make reference to religion.
In one a black silhouette sneakily carries off a no-entry bar while in another a crucified Jesus Christ hangs on a dead-end sign. However, not everyone has been impressed. The artist, armed with his trusty pack of stickers, was reportedly once fined 400 euros for vandalising street signs.
Abrahams told website Tuscany Arts: ‘The omnipresence of street signs can verge on the absurd. ‘The message is very poor (sometimes I feel like I’m being treated like an idiot by them) and yet they have a highly invasive aesthetic. ‘As a professional in the world of visual space, I feel called to intervene, both to notify the public of the absurdity of the situation, and to propose a constructive and respectful alternative. ‘The final objective? That traffic keeps flowing without us feeling spoken down to!’
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