El Seed 'The Traveler' Print Available

 

Artist: El Seed
Title: The Traveler
Medium: Lithograph Print with Embossed Poem
Size: 35.5 x 70 cm
Edition: 60
Price: €580

eL Seed is a renowned artist born in 1981 in Le Chesnay, France, to Tunisian parents. Known for his distinctive style that blends Arabic calligraphy with graffiti, he creates what he calls "calligraffiti" to spread messages of peace and unity. While growing up in the Parisian suburbs, he did not learn to read or write standard Arabic until his teenage years, later developing a deep passion for this art form to bridge his dual cultural heritage. Although he began by tagging his name on walls in his youth, he started focusing heavily on this unique calligraphic style about twenty years ago. The artist, who has never revealed his real name and uses eL Seed as his moniker, creates art intended to provoke, often without translation to encourage engagement with the aesthetic form.

Significant, proven accomplishments include winning the UNESCO Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture in 2017. He was also named a Global Thinker by Foreign Policy in 2016 for his massive project "Perception" in Cairo. In 2013, he collaborated with Louis Vuitton on their famous "Foulard d'Artiste". His work has been displayed in cities across the world, including Paris, Rio de Janeiro, and on the DMZ between North and South Korea.

Famous, documented pieces of art by eL Seed include the 2012 painting of a minaret of the Jara Mosque in his hometown of Gabes, Tunisia, which was a 47 meter high mural. Another major work is Perception, a 2016 anamorphic, citywide mural covering 50 buildings in the Manshiyat Nasr neighborhood of Cairo. He also created a 1000 square metre, Waves Only Exist Because the Wind Blows, in 2024 on the outer walls of Pirelli Hangar Bicocca in Milan.

eL Seed has participated in numerous gallery shows, including exhibitions at Leila Heller Gallery in New York, and Itinerrance Gallery in Paris. His work has been shown in cities such as Berlin, Chicago, Dubai, and São Paulo. His work is also in permanent collections, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art.