Born in 1989, Alexandre Monteiro aka Hopare is a Paris-based growing figure of the street art scene. He discovered street art when he was around 12 years old while coming across an old factory covered with graffiti. He then started his very first illegal graffiti. In 2005 when he was in junior high school he was tremendously influenced by his art teacher who was none other than Shaka, a well-known French street artist still in the game. The pupil and the teacher shared lots of artistic times together, so many that young Hopare prefered to skip the recess to draw with Shaka. A year later Hopare painted his first important mural and soon after integrated TSF Crew. At that time his style was somehow fragile and the young boy was still in pursuit of his own artistic identity. During twelfth grade, Monteiro worked for an interior architecture company. This job influenced a lot his way of drawing, which included more and more straight lines then.
Hopare's creations are all designed out of a perfect geometry, in a graphic abstract style. Often featuring faces at the core of his works, the artist utilizes variations of straight lines going from parallel to interlaced ones. This complex pattern of lines gives nothing but an intense dynamics to his artwork, set up in a pure but strong movement. Hopare's inspiration generally comes from his own environment but also his numerous travels. The faces you can see are inspired by meetings, the floral or architectural designs come from striking places the artist visited and the emotions felt are represented with straight lines and a palette of bright colors. The purpose of his murals are to catch the attention but above all to build a connection with the passersby. When you see one of his mural, you have no choice but to feel drawn in Hopare's world and be transported.
