The red indicator is the trademark of the French street artist Jean-François Perroy, aka Jef Aérosol, the legendary pioneer of Street Art who, together with his contemporaries Blek Le Rat and Speedy Graphito, is among the most famous artists in the world in the urban art scene. His mastery in the use of the stencil has been and continues to be an inspiration for the new generations of street artists who work today on the walls of our cities, including Banksy and C215.
Jef’s subjects are characters from the world of entertainment as well as ordinary citizens, anonymous and celebrities are on the same level. It is thus that walking through the streets of one’s city it is easy to come across icons of music, art and cinema, such as Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Jackson Pollock or Brigitte Bardot, as well as children playing hide and seek, artists of street performing or citizens interacting with the urban landscape. His style is a superimposition of black, white and grey, which together make up the portraits on different wall surfaces.
How to recognize a work by Jef? Simple, it is always accompanied by its unmistakable red indicator, a strong graphic sign that can recall a road sign, an urban element that brings back to the world of the street, but which also has the function of reinforcing the visual composition of the work, entering into contrast with the sinuous lines of the black and white silhouettes highlighting a detail. Many have wondered what the indicator means. Jef, however, doesn’t want to give too many explanations, he prefers to have the viewer give his own interpretation and decide a particular meaning for his signature.