John Hamon (born 1982) is a French street artist known for posting his image on buildings across

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Since 2001, he has affixed and projected the image of his

identity card An identity document (also called ID or colloquially as papers) is any documentation, document that may be used to prove a person's identity. If issued in a small, standard credit card size form, it is usually called an identity card (IC, ID c ...

photo onto monuments in 33 countries and 77 cities. He describes his motivation as "C'est la promotion qui fait l'artiste ou le degré zéro de l'art" ("It's the promotion that makes the artist or the zero degree of art").

Posters

Hamon began postering the image of his

photograph on Parisian walls in 2001. The image itself was taken in 2000, when Hamon was an eighteen-year-old high-school student. Later Hamon projected the image on notable buildings ( Palais de Tokyo,

Palais-Royal The Palais-Royal () is a former royal palace located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. The screened entrance court faces the Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre. Originally called the Palais-Cardinal, it was built for Cardinal ...

and

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

) and monuments (

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed "'' ...

Arc de Triomphe The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile (, , ; ) is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Place de l'Étoile—the ''étoile'' ...

). Hamon has displayed the image on monuments across the world – such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa – in 33 countries and 77 cities. In April 2019 he projected his image onto the

. For the most part, Hamon has acted as a guerilla artist postering without permission; he was once arrested for attempting to project onto

Notre-Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...

. He was released without charge. The image is the basis of all his published works to date.

Criticism

Fubiz.net describes Hamon's works and performances as "amusing, and thought-provoking on the importance of promotion in modern art". Leo Mirani of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' describes Hamon as a 21st-century

Kilroy Kilroy may refer to: * Kilroy (surname) * ''Kilroy'' (TV series), a BBC day time chat show hosted by Robert Kilroy-Silk * Kilroy, a main character beginning with Season 2 in the television series '' Taken'' * Kilroy's College, a distance educatio ...

. Journalist Edd Norval, describes Hamon as a man "presenting the ultimate parody", "making the art world the subject of the joke". Les Inrockuptibles' Clément Arbrun, writing for ''A Nous Paris'', sees Hamon as an "omni-present enigma" and likens him to

Amélie Poulain ''Amélie'' (also known as ''Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain''; ; en, The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain, italic=yes) is a 2001 French-language romantic comedy film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Written by Jeunet with Guillaume La ...

, treating his original photo as an example of one of Duchamps ''ReadyMades'', reusing the same image like

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

's ''

Campbell's Soup Cans ''Campbell's Soup Cans'' (sometimes referred to as ''32 Campbell's Soup Cans'') is a Visual arts, work of art produced between November 1961 and March or April 1962 by American artist Andy Warhol. It consists of thirty-two canvases, each mea ...

Awards and honours

* Chaton D'Or – 2018 – Prix du projet artistique (Artistic project prize)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamon, John 1982 births 21st-century male artists Artists from Paris French male artists Guerilla artists Street artists Living people