Alain-Dominique Gallizia

Alain-Dominique Gallizia, Architect, is a great benefactor of art, especially when it comes to graffiti on canvas.
Based in Boulogne-Billancourt, he devotes his life to helping artists in accomplishing their work and promoting their art to the general public.
Over time, he set up the Gallizia Fund, comprised of several collections, of which The Love Collection and The Vintage Collection are still in activity.

In 1989, He and Pierre Touitou imagine « Affaires à suivre », a creative workshop where young artists can live, housed in vacant buildings until the administration authorizes their renovation.
Painter Antonio Galego and Sculptor Jean-Gabriel Massardier are among the firsts to benefit from this program, exposing their artwork on the spot at the end of their residence.
This private initiative, widely picked up by the press, launches a public movement to make vacant premises available to young artists.

In 1992, he becomes the first volunteer of Setton Association, created by Jacky Setton and driven by his mother Lilly, in collaboration with Jean Todt, Alain Ayache and Jacques Séguéla.
This association, named “great national cause” in 1994, provides – freely of any management fee – thousands of sleeping bags to the homeless.

In 2005, he meets some of the graffiti artists whose artwork adorns his construction site’s palisades, by distributing “life bags” to homeless people by Gare du Nord train station. From this meeting emerges a common project to save their artwork on canvas, sheltered from time, and to ensure the recognition of this art by the general public.
He then invites the most talented graffiti artists to Boulogne-Billancourt to achieve, according to a single format, pieces of art following a theme: Love.
The collection of this “struggle on equal terms” becomes The Love Collection, a premiere in art history because of its unity of time, format and theme, conductive to highlight the style of every artist.

As of 2006, his Boulogne-Billancourt workshop, originally bought to house his architecture agency, welcomes the world’s most talented artists to paint inside what was becoming “The hive Graffiti”.
He promises to graffiti artists that he will protect their artwork from time and that he will get the general public to discover it, like Agnès B – in her “Galerie du point du jour” – and Jack Lang – in the Museum of French Monuments – did before him.

In 2008, faithful to his commitments, he voluntarily creates the “Calligraffiti” exhibition at the Grande Halle de la Villette, as part of the Codex Festival, “Writing in all its phases”, where he exposes a part of his “Love” and “Vertical” collections.

In April 2009, he creates the “Tag au Grand Palais” exhibition where – as a patron and curator – he stages more than 300 pieces of his “Love” collection for what will be the first great international graffiti exhibition at the Grand Palais, which success and stir – more than 700 publications at an international scope – will be the starting point for the recognition of this artistic movement.

In July, he works as the advisor of Cartier Foundation’s “Born In The Streets” exhibition and make his “vintage” collection available to them.

He organizes numerous charity exhibits and sales as a curator and expert, including one at the Molitor Swimming Pool, for the benefit of the Gustave Roussy Institute.

In February 2010, Alain-Dominique Gallizia organizes the “TAG the letters of nobility” exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo.
He then sells its artwork, in his quality of expert, on the fall of Pierre Bergé & Associés’s hammer, for the benefit of the Association SOS racisme.

From mars to July 2010, he creates as a curator the first “open sky museum” –offered to the city by Laurent Dumas from the company Emerige – over a 2000 m² tarp.
This creation enables every people passing by to discover artists working, vintage artwork and “Spraycan Art” – reconciling the city with graffiti art.
In the end, Alain-Dominique Gallizia sells the artwork exposed on the spot for the benefit of the Association “Paris tout P’tits”, which helps distressed mothers and children.

The American and French pioneers in the art of graffiti now express their confidence to Alain-Dominique Gallizia by untrusting vintage pieces of art to him, so that he can shelter them from time and expose them.

This will mark the beginning of The Vintage Collection, which continues to build-up to the extent that it is now the baseline collection of the Graffiti on canvas movement for the period 1975 to 1995.

Affordable Art Fair: the first contemporary art fair network – which preaches accessibility for the greatest number of people – invites Alain-Dominique Gallizia to voluntarily participate in their Parisian edition – from the 27th to the 30th of may at the Halle Freyssinet – and their Brussels edition – from the 25th to the 28th of February, 2011 at Tour et Taxis.

In February 2011, he voluntarily organizes the “Urban footprints” exhibition at the Palais d’Iéna as a curator.
He will then – as an expert – sell the artwork on the fall of Pierre Bergé & Associés’s hammer, for the benefit of the Association SOS racisme.

In July 2011, he provides and sets up more than 500 canvas to Monaco’s Grimaldi Forum for the American and European Tag and Graffiti art’s biggest retrospective, under the patronage of Prince Albert II.
The place houses the 40th anniversary of the first exhibition about graffiti art on canvas – which took place back in 72 at New York City College – and this “spraycan art on canvas” is renamed “Pressure Art” after the outside colorists of the XIXth century.

He regularly provides pieces of his art collection, for instance for the “Street Art” exhibition at the Musée de la Poste. Aslo, Joe Nahmad’s New York Gallery solicits his Rammellzee collection for the “Deep Space, Matta-Rammellzee” exhibition.

In February 2013, Alain-Dominique Gallizia and Pierre Bergé organize together a new exhibition, named “Master Paintings”, at the Palais de Tokyo, followed with a charity sale for SOS Racisme.

In May 2013, “The art of graffiti makes his debut at the Hotel Matignon”, at the behest of Mr. and Mrs. Jean-Marc Ayrault.

Alain-Dominique Gallizia provides Hotel Matignon with paintings from his “Vertical” collection, set in Prime Minister’s public and private spaces in order to entertain their guests and to exhibit Graffiti Art to their visitors.

In 2014, he permits the first Graffiti canvas ever made, signed by Ash – one of the first Parisian tag and graffiti artist – to enter the Paris National Museum of Furniture, helped by Philippe Bélaval.

In March 2015, he is the curator of the Pressure Art exhibition at Paris Pinacothèque, which lasts till the 13th of September.
He gathers a hundred pieces of his collection from the 1970-1990 period, highlighting the movement’s hidden story and the thorough workshop work, far from the streets and the short-lived aspect of Street Art.

Groundbreaking American master paintings are – which is a premiere for a Parisian museum – part of the exhibition, from Basquiat to Bando or Rammellzee.
In October 2015, Alain-Dominique Gallizia organizes, in his qualities of expert and curator, the first auction strictly dedicated to vintage Graffiti canvas, in collaboration with “Piasa” auction house.

In the beginning of 2016, he is the curator of the “Pressionnism, graffiti masterpieces on canvas” exhibition at Singapore’s Fort Canning Museum, for the first retrospective of this pictorial movement taking place in Asia.

A special room is dedicated to Rammellzee, whom Alain-Dominique Gallizia has always been close to.

From April to September 2016, he organizes the “Graffiti Art, 70-90, legendary paintings” exhibition at the Bernard Magrez Cultural Institute in Labottière’s Castle in Bordeaux, accompanying vintage artwork (70-90) from his “Vintage” Collection with a few recent paintings from his “Love” and “Verticale” Collections.

From April 2017 to October 2018, the Gallizia fund provides vintage artwork from his “Vintage” and “Esquisses” collections to the Musée du Graffiti et de l’Aérosol, in Paris.

From April to May 2018, pieces from Dondi’s artwork from the “Vintage” Collection are provided to the “Dondism” exhibition – a retrospective of his work at Marseille’s Ghost Galerie.

In July and August 2018, the Gallizia fund provides a dozen of its “Rammellzee Collection” for the great “RAMMELLZEE, RACING FOR THUNDER” exhibition at New-York’s Red Bull Art Center.

In October and November 2018, London’s Lazinc Gallery presents the retrospective “Rammellzee, a roll of dice”, supported by the Gallizia fund which provides them with a dozen pieces of art from the “Rammellzee” Collection.

From April 6th to November 3rd, 2019, he lends four vintage artworks for an exhibition named “Urban conquest”, in the Musée des Beaux-Arts of Calais.

From April 5th to August 20th, 2020, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts exposes a piece of art signed by Koor provided by the Gallizia Fund as part of the “Writing the future: Basquiat and the Hip-Hop generation” exhibition.

By exposing his collections, writing articles and intervening at conferences, Alain-Dominique Gallizia has become a master key in the revelation of Tag and Graffiti Art to the general public and discerning collectors.

By welcoming famous international artists, his “Hive of Tag” has become a reference, receiving knowledgeable audience – closed art lovers groups – as well as students, from all countries – doing a PhD on modern art – or disenfranchised youth – like “Les apprentis-orphelins d’Auteuil”, which helps orphans’ active input.

Alain-Dominique Gallizia’s endless voluntary work gradually entrenched the Graffiti on canvas art movement (Pressure Art or Pressionnisme in French) into the artistic and cultural landscape, offering a way to its undisputed renown artists to find a job and a market where they can express themselves freely.

Former Culture Minister Jack Lang awards him the Arts and Letter Medal in 2015, as a recognition of his artistic and cultural dedication and contribution.

INTERVIEW ET REPORTS

SINGAPORE PINACOTHÈQUE DE PARIS : What makes graffiti art

Source: Singapore Pinacothèque de Paris

La Ruche du Tag – Collection Amour

Source: TELEMATIN FRANCE 2