ABOUT US

art print by 123klan duo artist graffiti artistSTYLE IS THE MESSAGE !

ORIGIN OF THE NAME 123KLAN

The origin of the name of the graffiti crew created in 1992, 123klan, comes from the zip code of a small town in the north of France internationally unknown called BRAY-DUNES (59123).
Scien and Klor were at that time the only graffiti artists of this small town, and as a joke, they had first named their crew with sarcasm 123KINGS. The kings of the city. This inside joke in time became 123K, and finally as the crew functioned as a family composed of close friends, but also in a literal sense as Scien and Mrs Klor are a couple, the word clan defined this crew best. 

( May be a bit inspired of the Wu Tang clan of which they were fans )

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu-Tang_Clan

 

art mural by 123klan graffiti artist

123KLAN roots:

Based in Montreal, Canada, since 2007, 123KLAN is a graffiti crew founded by the French duo Scien and Mrs Klor in 1992. Tireless, effervescent and often ironic creative force, Scien and Klor have been doing their art for two decades in the hip-hop galaxie and well beyond.

Multidisciplinary, the 123KLAN style is declined in several branches of knowledge :



Graffiti art : Production of canvas, walls, worldwide exhibitions.


The creative studio : Studio graphics and branding.


Streetwear : BANDIT1SM x 123KLAN.



Influenced by the various 90’s graffiti art expressed in Europe and New York, 123KLAN crafted an hybrid style that gained them swift recognition. They defined around this time a new language that transcended all the graffiti “schools”.Their first works were enriched by huge, sharped-angled letters in acid colors and characters with futuristic manga features pose alongside experimental type.



Members of 123KLAN invade the web in 2001 like vandals as a new surface to be painted, they mix graffiti art and graphic design, using this platform as a real tool for creation, expression and dissemination.
If the graffiti school instilled in them technical rigour and an acute feel for construction, computer technology opened up new realms of expression.

art mural by 123klan-shine-mural-festival-floride street art festiva-shineonstpete123KLAN are the precursors of this style that mixes graffiti art and graphic design, it gives rise to a new synthesis which their motto says : when street knowledge meets technology, and graffiti art melts with with graphic design. By shifting the boundaries of their two favorite disciplines, 123KLAN have advanced the graffiti aesthetics and infused a healthy dose of new ideas into current graphic design. Far from confining themselves to urban walls with the aerosol, the vector allows them to land on multiple medias, everything goes; record sleeve, posters, stickers, toy design, posters, skateboards, canvas, shoes, and t-shirts.

It was after working for the leading brands of streetwear, that Scien and Klor  created their own brand in 2007. BANDIT1SM true laboratory initially, the development of the latter allows them to obtain financial freedom, giving free rein to their creatvity.

art on textile streetwear by artist 123klan lookbook lookboo
If there was a qualifier to 123KLAN style, it would probably be “hectic” because their work is anything but static, and displays an almost violent vibrancy : each piece is a jewel  fashioned with extremely taut lines, in which the flat blocks of colors are sharp as razor blades. Hectic, work is also in its state of  perpetual renewal: the many exhibitions and conferences dedicated to their art are all platforms where the duo demonstrates his creative vivacity.


Among others, they exhibited in : Brussels, Berlin, Honolulu, Lisbon, Los Angeles, Marrakech, Mexico City, Moscow, New York, Paris, Rio, Sao Paulo, San Francisco, Sydney, Singapore, Tokyo and Zurich.
The 123KLAN crew also show a mind-boggling flair recycle the gimmicks of an ever-changing  pop culture that they interpret on their own way, sprinkled with hip hop  Reference, sarcasm, or self-deprecating. Indeed, Scien likes to compare his work to that of a DJ mixing a multitude of samples to cut a track.

As bona fide contemporary Pop artists, Scien and Klor are following in the steps of  Arman, Villeglé and others: on the first hand, their systematic accumulation of current graphic signs, lettering or logostype hand drawn calls to mind reminiscent of the aesthetics agenda of pop art artists, on the other hand, their loans to Japanese cartoons, North American's mascots, undeniably evoke the exaltation of a mass culture which they soak up and echo with complicitous nods.

Industrial or semi-industrial reproduction of their work whether on posters, or through their clothing brand BANDIT1$M on t-shirts, underscore their kinship with one of the most important artistic movements of the twentieth century.


For any inquiries, please send an email to info@123klan.com


EXHIBITIONS

2023:

- World Wide Walls, Honolulu, Hawaii 

- Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii 

- Shine on St Pete, Saint Petersburg, florida

- Teenage Kicks Festival, Rennes, France 

 

2019:

- World Wide Walls, Okinawa, Japan 

- Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii 

2018:

- Urban Art fair, Paris,France 

- Kolly Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland

- Above the Radar, burlington, Us 

- Art souterrain, Montreal 

- Quartier des spectacles, Montreal 

-  Gallery 123klan . Canada 

 - Pow Wow San Jose, California, US 

 2017 :

- Miami Art Basel (Basel House - Sentience WYN317 Gallery), Florida, U.S.A.

Above the Radar, burlington, Us 

- Pow Wow, Worcester, U.S.A. - Under Pressure (22nd edition), August 2017, Montreal, Canada

2016 :

- Under Pressure (21st edition), August 2016, Montreal, Canada

- Amalgam Festival, Sherbrooke, Canada

- Pow Wow, Long Beach, California, U.S.A.

- 123KLAN Solo Show, 1Am Gallery, San Francisco, U.S.A.

- 123KLAN Solo Show, The HUB, Paris, France

2015 :

- Shine Morean Arts Center, St Petersburg, Florida, U.S.A

- Violent By Design, Stay Gallery, Downey, U.S.A. - Under Pressure (20th edition), August 2015, Montreal, Canada

- Screaming Hand, The Seventh Letter Gallery, Fairfax, Los Angeles, U.S.A.

- Street Ahead, Vivid-Sydney, Sydney, Australia

2014 :

Pow Wow Hawaii, Honolulu Art Museum, Hi, U.S.A.

Mural Festival, Montreal, Canada

– Urban art Gallery, Stuttgart, Germany – Montana Gallery, Barcelona

– All City Style, New York, U.S.A.

– Jardin Rouge, Marrakech, Morrocco

– Scope, New York, U.S.A.

2013 :

Pow Wow Hawaii, Honolulu Art Museum, Hi, U.S.A.

– From Lines Into Abstraction, Yves Laroche, Montreal, Canada

– Warsteiner Exhibition, Berlin, Germany

– Artrua, Rio, Brazil

2012 :

Pow Wow Hawaii, Honolulu Art Museum, Hi, U.S.A.

– 123KLAN 20th Anniversary, Bushwick, New York, U.S.A. – Trimarchi, Mar Del Plata, Argentina

– The End, Cancun, Mexico – Pixel Show, Sao Paulo, Brazil

2011 :

Pow Wow Hawaii, Honolulu Art Museum, Hi, U.S.A.

– Faces And Laces, Moscow, Russia

– Gamma Proforma, London, U.K.

– Against The Grain, 1Am Gallery, San Fransisco, U.S.A.

– UrbanArt – Graffiti 21, New York, Paris, Berlin, Völklingen – BRONX, Singapore

– Sudala, Tijuanaa, Mexico 

2010 :

– Nike Store Opening Exhibition, Mexico City, Mexico

– Agnes B, Paris, France – Agnes B, New York, U.S.A.

2009 :

- Blood Sweat Vector, London, U.K.

2008 :

- Agnes B, Paris, France

- Agnes B, New York, U.S.A



 2007 :

- Remix, Tapei, Taiwan

- Plural Form, Grand Canaria - Rio De Janeiro, Brazil 

2005 :

- K31 Gallery, Lahr, Germany

- Wordless, Zurich, Switzerland

2004 :

- 123KLAN Europe Tour Exhibition,

- Paris,

- Toulouse,

- London,

- Amsterdam,

- Lisbona,

- Barcelone,

- Bruxelles,

- Zurich,

- Luxembourg …
 

2003 :

– Kitchen 93, Bagnolet, France

– Lazy Dog, Paris, France

Semi-Permanent, Included Shepard Fairey, 123KLAN, Banksy, Sydney, Australia