Rammellzzee exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo

From February 20 to May 11, 2025, the Palais de Tokyo hosts the first stage of a retrospective dedicated to RAMMELLZEE, a major and atypical figure on the artistic and cultural scene of the 1980s. The result of a collaboration between the Palais de Tokyo and the CAPC in Bordeaux, this exhibition brings together some one hundred works from public and private collections, as well as a set of previously unseen visual and sound archives. The event will continue in Bordeaux in 2026, offering a plunge into the complex and singular universe of this artist.

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Born in New York in 1960, RAMMELLZEE has distinguished himself through his multidisciplinary approach, combining graffiti, sculpture, performance and music. His creations, marked by an aesthetic inspired by Italian Futurism, explore themes such as aeronautics and quantum mechanics. Through his manifesto, Iconic Treatise Gothic Futurism, he develops the concept ofIkonoklast Panzerism, arming letters with ornamental protections to denounce the oppressions of language. He states: " To deconstruct language, to destroy existing letters and their dominations, we must arm others.

RAMMELLZEE also made hip-hop history, taking part in the 1982 NY City Rap Tour, the genre's first world tour. In 1983, Jean-Michel Basquiat produced his iconic Beat Bop vinyl project. Retired to his Battle Station, an experimental laboratory, he leaves a fascinating and ambiguous artistic legacy. This retrospective at the Palais de Tokyo offers a rare opportunity to discover the work of this cryptic artist, who died in 2010 but whose influence lives on.