There has been an uptick in “graffiti” pillow sales over the last several months. I think this is fascinating as I purchased these fabrics a year ago last September on a total whim. You could call it an emotional purchase.  

I came across these textiles by Charles Pringuay and Toxic while on a trip to Seattle. I was flipping through Pierre Frey’s fabric wings and their “street art” textiles stopped me in my tracks.

Street diptyque

This design printed on cotton reproduces a diptych by young French artist Charles Pringuay, who was born in 1984. His predilection for working on several canvasses – which he then assembles into a single artwork – recalls the 15th and 16th century primitives whom he studied during his classical training. His cross-disciplinary style straddles painting and engraving, giving rise to highly personal and energetic artworks that blend Street Art with underground culture. – Pierre Frey

Eighty thirty

This print on linen celebrates 80 years of the Maison Pierre Frey and 30 years of Toxic’s career as an artist. As one of the pioneers of graffiti art in the 1980s, he took the walls and trains of New York as “canvasses” for his early work. Like his peer Jean-Michel Basquiat, Toxic uses art to denounce discrimination and violence against the black community. He was named a major artist by the Whitney Museum of American Art in 2006. – Pierre Frey

Toxic is still very active as an artist, as you can see from a few images I found on his instagram feed.

Why did these textiles resonate with me so much?

I had gone to Seattle a year ago now, last September, to hang out with a dear friend. It was her birthday so we had the perfect excuse to get away from lockdown with our families. We planned to share a hotel room, dine on the rooftop and walk around the gallery district, shops etc. Neither of us had hardly left our homes for several months.

That weekend was a harsh awakening.

Seattle, like so many other major cities around the country, had partially shut down due to Covid as well as the Black Lives Matter protests. Countless small businesses had closed and most of the storefronts were boarded up.

As we headed downtown, we realized we were about the only ones out, besides the homeless and mentally ill. It did not feel safe. The impact the pandemic had had on Seattle had not truly been felt by us (who had been sequestered away in our homes) until that moment.  

There was one lone bookstore owner, who remained open, and he explained to us that there was a project going on by the gallery owners to create a book of murals etc, to document this historic time. Various artists had been commissioned to do art, in an effort to alleviate vandalism and graffiti.

WHILE AT THE SEATTLE DESIGN CENTER…

A day or so later I was in the Pierre Frey show room at the Seattle Design Center, which felt like a quiet and pristine oasis, far from downtown Seattle. No else was there shopping. I was breezing past the Pierre Frey textiles and spotted Toxic and Charles Pringuays “street art”, hanging in the fabric wings.

The social unrest, Black Lives Matter protests, and abandoned urban centers since Covid have created a hotbed of artistic expression playing out in our city’s streets.  It is more prevalent than ever.

Pony Wave depicts two people kissing while wearing face masks on Venice Beach in Venice, California.- Smithsonian Magazine

Banksy is one of the few graffiti artists who is also a household name. A huge collection of his art is currently travelling and on exhibit in San Francisco.

The Art of Banksy 

Opening November 22, 2021, at the Palace of Fine Arts

“ART SHOULD COMFORT THE DISTURBED AND DISTURB THE COMFORTABLE”
– Banksy

XOXO,
SUZANNE