Zevs (French, b.1977) is an anonymous Street artist who is well-known for his poetic drawings of shadows in Paris. He is considered to be one of the prominent pioneers of French Street Art. Noticed in the 1990s, he became an influential Graffiti artist and a tagger. He named himself Zevs after a local train Zeus, which almost knocked him down in the Paris metro.

The artist gained popularity among art lovers with Visual Kidnapping, a term he coined when he cut out a poster of a Lavazza model on a billboard in the center of Berlin and wrote Visual Kidnapping - Pay Now. In 2001 he made an art attack on the poster of Alfred Hitchcock, wherein he cut out a small hole in the face of the famous director's poster and made a flow of red ink. The Pompidou Art Centre was the only establishment to keep a Visual Attack that Zevs had done for the duration of the Hitchcock exhibit.

Zevs is also well-known for his liquidated or dripping logos. With a Graffiti aesthetic to his art, he uses the original colors of the logos and repaints them with excess. This overflowing paint gives the logo a dissolving appearance, thus causing a visual disturbance to the recognizable ubiquitous trademark. Some of the famous logos that have been subjected to Zevs liquidation include Chanel, McDonalds, Giorgio Armani, Louis Vuitton, Coca Cola, and Apple. His artwork on logos was also exhibited at the Lazarides Gallery in London. The artist's visual attacks, visual kidnappings, and Graffiti have often landed him in trouble with the authorities. Though he maintains that his work is apolitical in nature and has more to do with the visual aspect of the landscape of cities and his interest in advertising, Zevs has generated much interest among power circles. He was even arrested in Hong Kong for his work on dripping logos. In spite of his popularity, his work has often been labeled as vandalism of art. Zevs currently lives and works in Paris, France.

Timeline

1977
Born in France
Currently lives and works in Paris and Berlin

Exhibitions

2014
Expérience n°8: Zevs x Impossible, La Vitrine am, Paris, France (solo)
Zevs, La Vitrine am, Paris, France (solo)
2013
Cultural Hijack - AA Gallery - AA School of Architecture, London (England)
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, NY
Art & Toys – Collection Selim Varol - me Collectors Room Berlin, Berlin
Domination, Hegemony and The Panopticon - Traffic, Dubai
Facetime - On Stellar Rays, New York City, NY
2011
Liquidated Version, De Buck Gallery, New York, NY
Summer Selections, De Buck Gallery, NY
2009
Euro Liquidated, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France (solo)
Visual Attack, de Pury & Luxembourg, Zurich, Switzerland (solo)
La Force de l'Art 02, Grand Palais, Paris, France
Urban Art aus der Sammlung Reinking, Neues Museum Weserburg, Bremen, Germany
Galerie Patricia Dorfmann, Paris, France
2008
Electroshock, Ny Carlsberg Glyptothek, Copenhaguen, Denmark (solo)
TINA B. 2008 TINA B, The Prague Contemporary Art Festival, Pragues, Czech Republic
Postcapitalism Kidnapping, Art Statements Gallery, Hong Kong, China
Radical Advertising NRW-Forum, Düsseldorf, Germany
2007
ZEVS, Lazarides Gallery, London, UK (solo)
Maison Européenne de la Photographie MEP, Paris, France (solo)
Visible Graffiti, Galerie Patricia Dorfmann, Paris, France (solo)
Galerie Peter Borchardt, Hamburg, Germany
Graffiti, Galerie Magda Danysz, Paris, France
Wakin Up Nights, de Pury & Luxembourg, Zürich, Switzerland
Still on and non the wiser, Von der Heydt Museum, Wuppertal, Germany
Invisible shadow-performance, Maison rouge, Fondation Antoine de Galbert, Paris, France
Backjumps Libe issue 3, Kreuzberg/Bethanien, Berlin, Germany
2006
Perpetual Ending, Galerie Patricia Dorfmann, Paris, France (solo)
Ugly winners, Galerie du jour Agnès b, Paris, France
Intersection des arts, Chapelle de la Pitié Salpetrière, Paris, France
Swish, Lazarides Gallery, London, UK
2005
Visual Kidnapping, Cérémonie de clôture, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France (solo)
Street Magic, Inside Outside Gallery, Cleveland, OH
Heimspiel, Galerie Rebellminds, Berlin, Germany
I learned it from a talk show, Galerie Patricia Dorfmann. Paris, France
DIVA Paris, Galerie Patricia Dorfmann, Paris, France
TAG THE SYSTEM, Galerie Beaurepaire, Paris, France
Heimspiel, Galerie Rebellminds, Berlin, Germany
The live issue II, Kunstraum Kreuzberg, Bethanien, Berlin, Germany
La Galerie fête ses quinze ans, Galerie Patricia Dorfmann, Paris, France
Santa Ghetto, POW, Londres, UK
2004
Electric Girl and the Shadows Rebell Minds Gallery, Berlin, Germany
Imposture légitime, Galerie Patricia Dorfmann, Paris, France
Die Nacht ist meine Welt, Galerie Rebellminds, Berlin, Germany
GRAND-MASTER-GRAFF, Point Ephémère, Paris, France
9 points of the law, NGBK, Berlin, Germany
2003
Broken sunshine, Fire House, New York, NY (solo)
Art Crime Scene, Le triptyque, Paris, France (solo)
Aux portes de l'enfer, NIM, Paris, France (solo)
Galerie Agnès b., Paris, France
2002
Paris-Berlin, Galerie Rebellminds, Berlin, Germany (solo)
Nuit blanche, Paris, France
2001
ZEVS, Galerie Patricia Dorfmann, Paris, France
Shadow Hunter, Vitrines des Galeries Lafayette, Paris, France (solo)
Expressure 4.2, Mama gallery, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
2000
Ideal room (A.P.A), Galerie Patricia Dorfmann, Paris, France
Web art, Galerie des filles du Calvaire, Paris, France
Attack of Montpellier, Borealis, Montpellier, France
1999
Movie: Warning may provoque damage, Maison Européenne de la Photographie MEP, Paris, France (solo)
Art urbain, Espace Typhaine, Paris, France