Banga

Banga was born in Guadeloupe, he is a known worldwide for his artistic creations. He moved to Paris at the age of 5. A former break dancer, he contributed to the ascension of hip hop before devoting himself to graffiti and tagging walls, metros in a prolific manner. He is one of the rare artists to have an expertise on the freehand airbrush technique. In 1986, he joined a succession of groups, T.R.P (The Renegade Painters) and PAW (Police Against Writerz), this is when he created his first fresco on the fences of Louvre. He graffiti painted on the biggest wall with Kayonne (100/m6). In 1990, he taught graffiti to students at University Paris 8 for two years and during the same year, he founded the BASALT collective (Mural expression) addressed to youngsters in order to initiate them to graffiti art in discriminated quarters. In 1997, for a charity cause he exhibited at the Cartier foundation, he was invited to New York by Tats Cru to decorate a junior school in Bronx. The same year, Banga created his own ready-to-wear brand, a street-wear with his name and opened his first boutique at the St Ouen flee market.

He received several awards during his career. Especially the first prize of the Graff competition organized by University Paris 13. His encounter with Agnes B led to a collaboration of T-shirts for Japan in 1995. Two years later, he exhibited for the Cartier foundation. He was invited to New York by Tats Cru to decorate a junior school in Bronx. He sold his own brand of street-wear at the Saint Ouen flee market and Halles in Paris. The international press honored his work (The source, Vibe, Final Call, ID…). Banga also worked with major companies like (Microsoft, Volkswagen, Canal Plus, SNCF, SNECMA, EDF…).