BIOGRAPHY

 

JAYE NILKO are an exceptional duo. These two Parisian artists (JAYE and NILKO) are the fruit of a singular encounter between two styles and two talents. Together, they unite their work for a unique, innovative, and collaborative style. Urban artists, contemporary artists, graphic artists, they have created, through the union of their respective styles, a new platform for contemporary expression.

 

JAYE NILKO- THE MEETING

When you ask JAYE NILKO- « How did you meet? », they answer you in anecdote: through a collective desire of urban painting, Nilko would have asked Jaye to fill his composition with lettering, a talent appreciated by this-one. In working together, they notice quickly how well their work rebounds off the other, and the complementary nature of their creative skills. Their respective talents, united, created in this way a new form of graffiti. This form, conceptually advanced, went beyond the classic rules of contemporary graffiti, and so JAYE NILKO was born.

Internationally renown, their work goes beyond the wall and, staying true to the vision of urban art as a form of contemporary art, have allied to create a graphic expression that extends itself to new techniques and new mediums. Street artists as well as contemporary artists, they extend their work to the realms of contemporary painting, design, and fashion.This duo accomplishes extensive work to expand the field of graffiti art to a new dimension. An honest, down to earth, creative and expressive approach. Free, collaborative, vibrant. Working on the wall, on the canvas, or on textile and more, their work implies not only the traditional base of graffiti (colors, lettering, "classic" American and European figures), but also a singular aesthetic expression, peculiar animal and aggressive human figures, design and graphics, that give way through their binary process.

However, what makes these contemporary artists and their works quite spectacular, is the manner in which they have detached themselves from the regular graffiti form to create a new urban art. Jaye adds to the global form, the lettering, the pure colors, what Nilko gives in details and spontaneous figurative work. From their complementary style, they transcend the rules of graffiti for a true conceptual work.

Their medium passes largely beyond the graffiti bomb: painting wheel, acrylic, various matter on canvas. At the technical level, they have separated themselves from the classical lettering form to include figures, and give a unity to their work. This was a spectacular change from contemporary graffiti work: the fusion of these two forms was not so extensively accomplished previously. In addition, they were the first to wheel paint over their accomplished graffiti works. In various colors, they come back to work over their original composition, giving varied depth and perspectives. Lettering and figurative work is no longer separate: their work meshes together thanks to their various techniques, for an enriched final product, a real work of art in which the spectator can reflect, explore. 

At a time where graffiti is employed half-hazardly, in ready-to-wear fashions, where its visual codes are omnipresent, in television or mass media in general, they combine their talents to inscribe themselves in a visual movement that extends to almost any form, all the while staying high-level. Sometimes subtle, often very striking, they have been able to create a level of creation only found in a collaborative style.  

The themes of these artists?

Urban culture, personas or creations that are often exaggerated- this tension explodes in their work in a constant movement, physically rendered in any of their mediums. A little "bad boy" in them, and certainly an edge. These artists go beyond American graffiti artists, inspired from visual media, film, comics like Marvel. JAYE NILKO push this vision further: from their own imagination, they add to the illustrative expression an agressivity, a visual unnervement. In this way, often working from no physical visual support, the every day world sits in the individual and collective memory and, thanks to painting, is reborn within their work. What these artists have, is an understanding of today's visual culture, and the mastery of a type of work that knows how to push beyond the boundaries imposed by others.

Their work inscribes itself in various fields: that, of course, of urban art itself, but also of figurative contemporary art, as well as urban design and culture. This gives way to a visual in which graffiti art goes beyond the wall, and beyond "hipster" urban culture. Exhibited by numerous museums and galleries: l'exposition « Melodie Urbaine » at the centre National d'Art Contemporain de l'Essonne Camille Lambert, exhibition on the Champs-Elysées, with the Taxie Gallery (« Explosition ») in 2005, exhibition and live mural at the « Grand Palais » in Paris (Expo « RUE') in 2006, exhibition and live customisation on the Champs Elysees, for the release of the soccer video game « FIFA 07 » with « EA Games » , and in 2007, a exhibition not only at the Gallery Itininerrance in Paris (« Graphology »), but also at the Palais de Tokyo (« Graphologie. ») . They are also solicited for their interior and exterior decoration, as well as furniture and object design.

Their work is such as that it fits perfectly in an urban art movement, all the while top-notch and finely accomplished. They have worked on the decors for events such as the French station of the 2005 Eurovision, a live mural for the release of the « Tony Hawk, American Wastedland » video game with the agency « Tokyo », also in 2005, the decoration for the furniture store and studio « l'atelier DOMUS », decoration for the « Chicago » club (Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire), the paintings for the stand of the show-room « Miskeen », salon « Bread and Butter » (Berlin and Barcelona) in 2006 and 2007, among others.

Outside their capacity to create an urban atmosphere through an artistic drive, aiming the young contemporary culture, JAYE NILKO contribute to numerous labels by their custom work. This work has been solicited by companies such as Harley-Davidson, for the customization of the first "Graffiti Harley" in 2005, as well as the « Korey Chevrolet V8 » wake board for the wake boarding World Co-Champion Pierre Baudry (2006).

Of course, in the same directive, JAYE NILKO can also been seen in high fashion, their creations customized for a limited and individual result. The pair of artists has the capacity to distinguish themselves by a vibrant esthetic personality and by their ability to transmit this to any medium. For Benetton, they realized the summer/winter collections of their sub-label Street Wear KillerLoop in 2004, as well as a collaboration with « Avirex ». For Xuly Bet, custom work for a limited series of leather jackets in 2006, as well as the design for an entire collection. For Intersport, a new outfit work by the salesforce in 2007. That same year, they also designed the collections of « Polochon » for Intersport.

We invite you to discover their universe, and let yourself be seduced by a visual performance...

 

Mylène Hengen
BOMBES PRODUCTION