MADE in Bali
Bali 2010-2011
Although rooted in ancient forms of expression and diverse cultural traditions, graffiti has undergone numerous controversies and reclassifications since the 1960s, ultimately securing its place as a legitimate artistic discipline.
But are we still talking about the same thing? Over time, graffiti has evolved and adapted to the demands of the contemporary art world. Between graffiti on canvas designed for gallery exhibitions, conceptual graffiti adorning living snails, reverse graffiti that cleans urban surfaces, green graffiti contributing to the ecological beautification of public spaces, and commercial graffiti co-opted by marketing strategies, the raw, disillusioned acts of defiance against an unresponsive city are becoming increasingly rare. To align with contemporary art, graffiti had to transform its political act into an aesthetic one. While it retains its formal roots, it has fundamentally broken with its original intent, achieving its new status at the cost of its own alienation.
It is within this context that Mad-E's work should be understood. His interventions consist of sculpting graffiti in bas-relief, carving into doors or stone blocks that he then permanently installs on city walls. Unlike hurried scrawls and quick fill-ins, his pieces are meticulous and precious sculptures, carefully integrated into their urban surroundings. His interventions do not carry the urgency of illicit acts; instead, they embellish the walls without damaging them, quite literally bringing images and text out of the wall itself. By pursuing a traditional sculptural technique while infusing it with the vocabulary, spatial perception, and visual culture of graffiti—an aesthetic not originally his own—Mad-E seeks to transcend craftsmanship and embrace a contemporary artistic approach.
