Street Art: ‘Freedom Leading the People’ Retrospective and Wearing ‘Yellow Vest’ Fashion

Street art artist Pboy painted “Liberty Leading the People 2019”, a mural version of “Yellow Vests” in the 19th arrondissement of Paris. A work that caused a sensation on social networks.

With a tricolor in one hand and a bayonet in the other, the body stretches forward on the central axis of the composition: it is impossible to misinterpret the quote. In early January, a new mural by street artist Pboy (alias Pascal Boyart) appeared on the rue d’Aubervilliers in the 19th arrondissement, titled La Liberte guide le peuple 2019. Paris district. If it’s made a splash on social networks and the media since then, it’s because the restoration was intended as an update of Delacroix’s famous painting in the “Yellow Vests” edition: a way of documenting the events of recent weeks 1830. The revolution of 1789 was immortalized by the painter and extended to the revolution of 1789. Thus, the protagonists of the fables surrounding “Freedom 2019” wear striking vests, hats, and live masks, and brandish either paving stones or iron bars, as they choose; their silhouettes stand out against the swirl of smoke and tear gas.

If Delacroix’s paintings have a strong heritage and symbolism, and have attracted countless citations, this last incident has left many viewers and netizens skeptical. On the one hand, about the meaning given to this work. On the other hand, because the artist claims to have hidden a treasure hunt encoded in the form of Bitcoin keys in his work, the first person to discover it can get around 1,000 euros. According to the artist, it is in this technical mystery that “the truly revolutionary aspects of the painting” can be found.

​People’s women​
Hard to understand for the uninitiated, this keyword-formed message has only a faint subversive scope—as it gives Liberty its look. Younger, thinner, with a shaved head, and especially in dress, she steered clear of her standout models, who borrowed images of plump, muscular working women from ancient portraits. Furthermore, this choice of not showing the chest can be read as very political. In fact, it intervenes in particular after Manuel Valls caused controversy around Marianne’s image in 2016: “Marianne, the symbol of the republic, she bares her breasts because she feeds people, she didn’t wear a veil because it was free. This is the Republic. » At one point, the historian Mathilde Larrell recalled on Twitter that several representations of Marianne since the 19th century Forms coexist, showing every competing concept of the republic: one conservative, with his hair tied and well-dressed; the other, a revolutionary, with loose hair and a bare chest, fully armed.

Street art artist Pboy painted “Liberty Leading the People 2019”, a mural version of “Yellow Vests” in the 19th arrondissement of Paris. A work that caused a sensation on social networks.