November 13 – December 13, 2014
3ttman is the three-headed alter ego of Louis Lambert (Lille, 1978), French artist living in Spain since 2001. His character, which he began painting in the streets of Lille in 1999, represents – according to the artist -– the profound complexity of humans and the various view points that emerge from a single situation. He lives by the motto of being an “Environmental Agitator” who creates, feels and acts consciously, but who oftentimes prefers “to act crazy.”
For artist 3ttman, to be aware of the true meaning of his presence on this earth is essential. How it in turn affects it is genuinely unfathomable. “Wasting water, killing and cruelty towards animals, pollution, deforestation… It is impossible not to be affected by all these misfortunes that humans are producing, but it is even harder to solve them as isolated individuals… Hence, I simply act crazy.“
On the one hand, we encounter the most profound feeling a human being can experience, the drive that incites us to care for our surroundings, to modify our destructive patterns, transcend to become better human beings. Through his art, 3ttman transmits the message; he persuades the spectator, confronts him. He encourages the viewer to reflect on the purpose of humans on this earth through colors and dynamic compositions.
This exhibition portrays the need that both the artist and the viewer have, to safeguard the much-needed purity, not to fall into fatalism, and to enjoy the everyday magic of life. It truly is necessary to act crazy.
3ttman (pronounced “three têtes man” or “the man with three heads”) is a French-born artist based in Madrid. His versatile style combines cartoon graphics with forms inspired by his travels to distant lands. 3ttman frequently works in the street, because it allows the artists to express themselves freely and have an unfiltered dialogue with the public. His interactions with space and his colorful paintings led him to work with the Tate Modern (Street walking tour 2008), The Country (ARC 2012), the creation of a 30 meter mosaic wall with the Spanish embassy in Hanoi (2010), murals in the Monumental in Kiev with the French Embassy in Almeria with Greenpeace.