AMOUR/ JE T'AIME PARIS
Jean-Luc Duez paints messages of affection in the city of love in washable white acrylics.

 
 

I LOVE YOU 6-1
 		 
I LOVE YOU 6-2
 		 
I LOVE YOU 6-3
 		 
I LOVE YOU 6-4
 




I LOVE YOU 6-5
 		 
I LOVE YOU 6-6
 		 
I LOVE YOU 6-7
 		 
I LOVE YOU 6-8
 




I LOVE YOU 6-9
 		 
I LOVE YOU 6-10
 		 
I LOVE YOU 6-11
 		 
I LOVE YOU 6-12



AMOUR / JE T'AIME PARIS
In 2003, there was a flurry of newspaper articles in Paris about "Amour." Since Paris is known as the city of romance, it doesn't seem like a surprise, but this story was different.

The word, "Amour," was appearing up to one hundred times each night in elegant cursive style on walls, streets, Metro stops, benches, and sidewalks across the city. Street cleaners removed the washable paint and chalk every evening, but they re-appeared day after day for months.

Liberation located the artist, Jean-Luc Duez, through the internet. It is thought that M. Duez, then 54, is the only ILY artist who was not under 25 during the period of writing the graffiti...to which we say, good on you, M. Duez!

He said he began writing "Je t'aime" after his girlfriend left him, painting it on her route to work and in places she would frequent. She had a restraining order slapped on him to keep him from contacting her for three years. In 2003, he said "only two years to go." So what happened in 2005? Did he call her again?

Passers-by encouraged his graffiti. "One woman stopped me and she seemed happy," he told Liberation. "She said: 'So it is you writing all those I love you's. Keep it up, it makes me feel good'." From then on, M. Duez started writing "Amour" rather than "Je t'aime," thinking his message was for everybody, not just his ex.

In 2003, one newspaper reported that M. Duez has struggled against alcohol addiction, then lived on unemployment benefit, and devoted his time to water colours and graffiti. It also said that he sometimes writes "Perseverance" or "Patience." When his then 11-year-old daughter visited, he scribbled her name, Prudence, along the route to his flat.

Is M. Duez still painting "Amour"? Please send any information about the artist or his art.