LEK & SOWAT

Lek (b. 1971, France) & Sowat (b. 1978, France/USA) have been working as a duo since 2010. Lek & Sowat have developed a practice based on in situ interventions and dialogue with architecture. Stemming from urban exploration and graffiti culture, they push the boundaries of this medium by designing works that blend architectural abstractions, destructured typography, installations, and films.
In 2012, their project Mausolée—a clandestine artistic residency conducted in an abandoned supermarket in northern Paris—marked a decisive turning point in their careers and led them to the Palais de Tokyo, where they initiated the Lasco Project, the institution's first urban art program.
In 2015, they joined the Villa Medici in Rome as fellows, a period during which they developed a four-handed studio practice and notably deepened their research into the dialogue between painting, memory, and architecture. Since then, they have carried out numerous in situ projects around the world (Brazil, India, Hong Kong, the Middle East, Europe) and collaborated with major figures of contemporary creation, including John Giorno, Agnès b., Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Futura, Mode2, and Jacques Villeglé. With the latter, they conceived Tracés Directs, a work that entered the permanent collection of the Centre Pompidou in 2014.
In 2024, the National Museum of Modern Art – Centre Pompidou reinforced this commitment by acquiring a set of works including their film Hope, the artist's book All Colors Are Beautiful, and the series of painted plaques Nul n’est censé invoquer sa propre turpitude. In 2025, they were invited by the Monnaie de Paris to co-curate the exhibition Graffiti X Georges Mathieu with Éric de Chassey.
Today, their work focuses on designing permanent interventions capable of engaging in a dialogue with heritage architecture and durably renewing its perception. In 2026, they will be in residence in New York at the Villa Albertine, continuing their research on the exchanges and circulation between American graffiti and European modernities.

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