ZEVS

Born in 1977 in Saverne (FR)
Live in Paris (FR)

Biography of Zevs

Christopher Aguirre Schwarz a.k.a Zevs was born in 1977 in Saverne (FR). In 1989 he started painting in the street. In 1991, he escaped a terrible shock with a train; he found his artist name just after this incident. Until the late 1990s, he painted shadows and silhouettes of Parisian street furniture. But the mayor of Paris decided to erase all traces. He turned to a new technique called “reverse graffiti”, i.e. stripping dirty walls to highlight clean areas. He also used a different type of paint, visible only under ultraviolet rays. In the summer of 1999, Invader and Zevs monopolized the city of Montpellier under the pseudonym @nonymous. Their work was shown two years later at the Galerie Agnes B. In 2001, in his new project “Visual Attacks”, Zevs symbolically executed advertising poster icons, by spray painting a dripping red dot on the forehead of his victims.
In 2004, in his “Visual Kidnapping” project, he cut the 15-meter high poster of the Lavazza coffee muse on Alexanderplatz in Berlin. He left the message “VISUAL KIDNAPPING PAY NOW !!!” and asked for a symbolic ransom of € 500,000. This work was shown in various places including the Palais de Tokyo. From 2006, he developed his project “Liquidated logo”, which consisted in painting logos of famous brands and letting the paint run down. In July 2009, he was jailed in Hong Kong for painting the Chanel logo on an Armani boutique. In 2011, he made new brand “liquidations” and exhibited in New York. In 2014, he presented a series of Polaroids accompanied by a voice recording of the calls he’d ​​anonymously had with gallerists, asking about how to become an artist.

Exhibition dates of Zevs

2014
Expérience n°8: Zevs x Impossible, La Vitrine am, Paris (solo)
Zevs, La Vitrine am, Paris (solo)

2013
Cultural Hijack – AA Gallery – AA School of Architecture, Londres
Traffics In Icons, De Buck Gallery, New York (solo)
Heaven, The Container, Tokyo (solo)
Graffiti Mashup, Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA
10 Years of Wooster Collective: 2003-2013, Jonathan Levine Gallery, New York
L’Echappee Belle, Grand Palais, Paris

2012
Détournement: Signs of the Times – Jonathan LeVine Gallery, New York City
Art & Toys – Collection Selim Varol – me Collectors Room Berlin, Berlin
Domination, Hegemony and The Panopticon – Traffic, Dubai
Facetime – On Stellar Rays, New-York

2011
Liquidated Version, De Buck Gallery, New-York
Summer Selections, De Buck Gallery, New-York

2009
Euro Liquidated, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (solo)
Visual Attack, de Pury & Luxembourg, Zurich, Suisse (solo)
La Force de l’Art 02, Grand Palais, Paris
Urban Art aus der Sammlung Reinking, Neues Museum Weserburg, Bremen, Allemagne
Galerie Patricia Dorfmann, Paris, France

2008
Electroshock, Ny Carlsberg Glyptothek, Copenhague, Danemark (solo)
TINA B. 2008 TINA B, The Prague Contemporary Art Festival, Pragues, République Tchèque
Postcapitalism Kidnapping, Art Statements Gallery, Hong Kong, Chinae
Radical Advertising NRW-Forum, Düsseldorf, Allemagne

2007
ZEVS, Lazarides Gallery, Londres (solo)
Maison Européenne de la Photographie MEP, Paris, France (solo)
Visible Graffiti, Galerie Patricia Dorfmann, Paris (solo)
Galerie Peter Borchardt, Hamburg
Graffiti, Galerie Magda Danysz, Paris
Wakin Up Nights, de Pury & Luxembourg, Zürich, Suisse
Still on and non the wiser, Von der Heydt Museum, Wuppertal
Invisible shadow-performance, Maison rouge, Fondation Antoine de Galbert, Paris
Backjumps Libe issue 3, Kreuzberg/Bethanien, Berlin

2006
Perpetual Ending, Galerie Patricia Dorfmann, Paris, France (solo)
Ugly winners, Galerie du jour Agnès b, Paris
Intersection des arts, Chapelle de la Pitié Salpetrière, Paris
Swish, Lazarides Gallery, Londres

2005
Visual Kidnapping, Cérémonie de clôture, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (solo)
Street Magic, Inside Outside Gallery, Cleveland (US)
Heimspiel, Galerie Rebellminds, Berlin
I learned it from a talk show, Galerie Patricia Dorfmann. Paris
DIVA Paris, Galerie Patricia Dorfmann, Paris
TAG THE SYSTEM, Galerie Beaurepaire, Paris
Heimspiel, Galerie Rebellminds, Berlin
The live issue II, Kunstraum Kreuzberg, Bethanien, Berlin
La Galerie fête ses quinze ans, Galerie Patricia Dorfmann, Paris
Santa Ghetto, POW, Londres

2004
Electric Girl and the Shadows Rebell Minds Gallery, Berlin
Imposture légitime, Galerie Patricia Dorfmann, Paris
Die Nacht ist meine Welt, Galerie Rebellminds, Berlin
GRAND-MASTER-GRAFF, Point Ephémère, Paris
9 points of the law, NGBK, Berlin

2003
Broken sunshine, Fire House, New York (solo)
Art Crime Scene, Le triptyque, Paris (solo)
Aux portes de l’enfer, NIM, Paris (solo)
Galerie Agnès b., Paris

2002
Paris-Berlin, Galerie Rebellminds, Berlin, Germany (solo)
Nuit blanche, Paris, France

2001
ZEVS, Galerie Patricia Dorfmann, Paris
Shadow Hunter, Vitrines des Galeries Lafayette, Paris
Expressure 4.2, Mama gallery, Rotterdam, Pays-Bas

2000
Ideal room (A.P.A), Galerie Patricia Dorfmann, Paris
Web art, Galerie des filles du Calvaire, Paris
Attack of Montpellier, Borealis, Montpellier

1999
Projection du film Warning may provoque damage, Maison Européenne de la Photographie MEP, Paris
Art urbain, Espace Typhaine, Paris

Available artworks by Zevs

Works performed in the streets by Zevs

Videos of Zevs