Between his XXL artwork unveiled on the National Assembly’s colonnade and his participation in the exhibition "We are (still) here," Seth’s news is buzzing. Never at a loss, the prolific street artist keeps up the pace. Case in point: ahead of an imminent trip to the Faroe Islands and a new show at the Itinerrance gallery, Seth is taking time to bring another monumental mural to Paris. This time, the “globe-painter” has laid down his brushes and spray cans on the façade of a social housing block (Toit et Joie - Poste Habitat) in the 19th arrondissement. A project led by the now-celebrated street-art agency Urban Signature.
For this new, unseen work, residents and the district council weighed in and were invited to vote for their favorite creation among three models. The fresco named "Curiosity Well Placed" won with two-thirds of the votes. Resembling the mural already visible in the Belleville neighborhood, this new piece features five curious children eager to learn. There’s, for instance, the one peering into a microscope, the girl buried in her books, the child in a sailor’s outfit holding a long telescope in his right hand, and the young observer scanning the future through binoculars, ready to take off.
At the summit of this mural, a fifth child gazes at the stars and the sky through a telescope. His blonde hair, yellow scarf, and green shirt pay homage to the Little Prince. And like Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Seth offers poetry in abundance, filling us with joy thanks to his faceless, dreamy children scattered across the four corners of the globe.
The mural also seems to delight neighborhood residents. During our report, several people pause to admire it and snap photos. Others openly express their wonder. "It’s really very beautiful," one nearby resident told us. Some even approach the street artist to offer congratulations and have a book signed. That morning, a Parisian woman living in the 13th arrondissement and working in the 19th took the opportunity to get an old 1946 edition of the famous "The Little Prince" signed. "I’m not the author," the artist joked, Seth. But the artist goes along with the game and doodles on the second page of the book: the Little Prince on his asteroid, joined by the fox.
Begun on June 24, the mural is nearing completion, ahead of an official inauguration scheduled for July 7 from 6 p.m. A concert and a speech are on the program. Residents and street-art lovers will thus be able to fully admire this new work by Seth; a piece to discover at No. 60 Rue Petit, in the 19th arrondissement, just above a Space Invader. To gain a bit of height and view this mural from a different angle, we recommend heading to the new stretch of the Petite Ceinture (the Rue Petit / André Danjon / Avenue Jean Jaurès area) that has been open since last spring.
