Teren Alchemia is the first monograph of the Parisian-based post-graffiti artist Pablo Tomek (PAL Crew). The book displays a selection of his street works with a reference and "détournement" to the codes, aesthetics and techniques of the construction sites' workers. "Teren", in polish language, means territory, zone, site and the title of the book could be interpreted as "Field Alchemy" a direct reference to the artist's practice of transubstantiating the construction and street materials to feed his art. 

About the artist: 

The art of Pablo Tomek (b. 1988 in Paris) originates in graffiti for which he has developed a rough experimental approach, which is further refined in his studio practice. Tomek studies the relationships between graffiti and abstract expressionist painting, the techniques and aesthetics of manual street workers (whiting with sponges, use of construction materials, remix of the fluorescent marks made by architects, abandoned objects, high-pressure cleaning tools), in a way to transmute objects and mundane practices into a new purpose and meaning, against a backdrop of an ever growing gentrification process.

His art stems from the hectic repetition of the gesture that drive the mechanical, anonymous practices of tagging and cleaning, which are part of the daily life of cities. By confronting the body and painting with space, between constant energy and fatigue, Pablo Tomek creates a painting which toys with its own destruction, resulting in a dance of pictorial ghosts.

Pablo Tomek’s work has been presented at several solo and group shows: at the galerie du jour agnès b. in Paris (“Etat des lieux”, 2013), the Frac Nord - Pas de Calais (“Toy”, 2014), in an illegally occupied industrial wasteland (“Expressiv Tag Painting”, Pantin, 2015), at the HLM in Marseille (“Honte”, 2015), the Bateau Lavoir (“Après Coup”, 2015), the Mini Galerie in Amsterdam (“Worker Games”, 2016), the Lasco Project #7 (Paris, 2016) where he produced a 500 sqm outdoor mural at the Palais de Tokyo, and Urban Spree Galerie in February 2017, following a 2-week in situ residency.

Published by Classic Paris in February 2017

First Edition of 300 copies

160 pages

14,8 x 21 cm

English / French