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If you’ve walked around any of France’s cosmopolitan cities in recent years, you’re sure to have come across some stunning murals. Painted onto the side of buildings, in hidden corners, and just about anywhere an artist can paint, street art is booming. We’re not talking old-school graffiti here, hastily sprayed names on walls, and anti-social stuff like that. Today’s street art is commissioned by city or town councils and created by prominent street artists from around the globe says Suzanne Pearson.
Paris has a long tradition of street art, as one might expect from a vibrant capital city, with illustrious graffeurs like Blek le Rat (a huge influence on Banksy) among the pioneers of worldwide street art, his work dating back to the 1970s. It’s not just Paris and the big cities where this bold art form is flourishing, though. In provincial towns around France, an unstoppable upsurge of murals is bringing colour and creativity to the country’s walls. Cities from north to south, from Roubaix to Marseille, are becoming living canvases, their more neglected districts coming to the fore and showcasing a wealth of artistic talent. Roubaix, for example, offers several street art tours, each focusing on a different theme related to the city’s industrial heritage. It’s a great way to get to know the less well-trodden areas of a town.
As a street art superfan and art historian, I was thrilled to discover, on moving to Brittany in 2021, that my local town, Morlaix, has a fantastic street art scene. Over the past few years, I’ve tracked down the majority of the murals and many smaller works, courtesy of the MX Arts Tour’s excellent map, available at tourist offices around the area.
The MX Arts Tour is the brainchild of artist Zag, a native of Lille who now lives in Morlaix. Zag founded the street art association Takad Grafan, which combines a passion for street art with a desire to promote Breton language and culture. In its early incarnations, the Tour’s artworks appeared on the walls of Morlaix’s venelles (narrow streets and alleys). These images can be seen, unexpectedly popping up in the most obscure corners, a good example being Zag’s tribute to Morlaix-born avant-garde singer Brigitte Fontaine, on the Venelle au Son. The town, rich in maritime and tobacco-production history, and a beautiful place to visit at any time of year, offers a perfect backdrop for many large works too, like Zag’s fabulous mural, Aura, above the ramp leading to the pedestrian walkway of the monumental viaduct.
La Manufacture, the town’s former tobacco-processing factory, which employed over 1,700 people at its peak in the late 19th century, is now home to a thriving art, culture, and science exhibition hub. La Manu, of course, has its fair share of spectacular street art. Once again, the Arts Tour’s founder, Zag, has tapped into Brittany’s history with La Morlaisienne. As you pass through the inner courtyard of La Manu, you’ll see her pensive profile painted onto the steps ahead of you. Dressed in traditional Breton costume, she embodies the stoic nature of her homeland.
In recent years, the street art phenomenon has extended beyond the town limits and into the surrounding villages. A recent addition is a magical mural named Nativité, opposite the Mairie in Botsorhel, a peaceful village, its sturdy granite houses providing the perfect foil for the vivid colours of French couple, Kat and Action’s artwork. In nearby Plouigneau, an ombre chinoise, sparked controversy and even a public enquiry, for its questionable hand gesture (I’ll let you decide for yourselves on that point).
The winning mural in the 2022 edition of the French national Golden Street-Art competition and a firm favourite on the MX Arts Tour is Dutch artist Leon Keer’s Kit de Secours, a mind-boggling 3D painting of a cellophane bag of toys. It ‘hangs’ from the wall of a house in the small seaside village of Plougasnou. Keer’s influence for the mural stems from his admiration of the sauveteurs (lifeguards and lifeboat crew), who risk their lives at sea to save others.
In 2024 Keer create an incredible anamorphic piece on the pavement outside Landerneau’s Mairie, next to the town’s 16th-century bridge, one of the oldest inhabited bridges in France. The painting, entitled Gargantua, showing a giant skeleton in the form of a Lego figurine lying in an excavation pit, is a masterpiece of trompe-l’oeil. Stand on the wrong side of it and you’ll see just a mass of paint. As you move around it, though, the startling 3D image comes into focus.
2025’s addition to Morlaix’s ever-expanding arts festival involves an entirely new concept, one which takes advantage of an extraordinary part of the town’s architectural history. In 1901, plans were submitted for a funicular to be built to connect Morlaix’s railway station, situated high above the town, to the Place des Otages at the foot of the viaduct. Following decades of construction problems and a scarcity of funding, the project was finally abandoned in 1933, although the 150-metre section of tunnel remained, almost forgotten until this year.
Le Tunnel, with its theme of Obsidian: La Légende du Dragon, is an immersive experience involving artworks and sculptures by several artists. Le Tunnel’s mascot, the dragon, looms large in the form of a sculpture by artist Ezra, measuring 12 metres long, 4 metres high, and with a wingspan of 7 metres. The experience will be open to visitors for the next three years and you can book tickets (in advance) here: mxartstour.com
Whether you’re a fan of street art or just curious to learn more about the art and artists involved in it, Morlaix provides the perfect starting point. Its historic centre, colourful marina, and wealth of free art to enjoy make it a great destination for a short break. If street art wasn’t on your radar before you visited Morlaix, it will be when you leave. Ken emberr! (See you soon in Breton!)
By Suzanne Pearson, writer, art and history researcher based in Brittany.
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