Jace is a French graffiti artist currently living in

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

island. He is mostly known for his Gouzou.

Biography

Jace was born in

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

in 1973 and moved to Réunion island when his parents had to move there for work. In 1990 he studied biology in Saint-Denis and this is where he supposedly created his first Gouzou; a little orange character without a face, no hands or feet. From 1993 to 1996, he moved to France where he started to paint Gouzou in many places, mainly on old industrial areas or on advertising posters. Most of them were seen in Le Havre, as well as in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and its suburbs. In 1995 he had his first paid work for the festival Mouv' en Musique in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

followed by his first exhibit (Biografitti) in Le Havre in 1996. He then came back to Réunion where is still lives but also performs several exhibitions in various cities and galleries. In 2004, the Chinese company Red Kids started to produce clothes and items with the Gouzou printed on it. As they didn't have a license for this, Jace sued the company for trade mark infringement and won the case and the company had to stop using it. In 2015, when the city of Paris decided to get rid of the

love locks A love lock or love padlock is a padlock that couples lock to a bridge, fence, gate, monument, or similar public fixture to symbolize their love. Typically the sweethearts' names or initials, and perhaps the date, are inscribed on the padlock, ...

on the

Pont des arts Pont, meaning "bridge" in French, may refer to: Places France * Pont, Côte-d'Or, in the Côte-d'Or ''département'' * Pont-Bellanger, in the Calvados ''département'' * Pont-d'Ouilly, in the Calvados ''département'' * Pont-Farcy, in the Ca ...

, they removed the grate and replaced it with railings where locks couldn't be attached. Panels would display the work of artists to fit with the name of the bridge. Jace was commissioned to paint the first panels on the railings. Today it is possible to see Gouzou in various countries and territories like France, Réunion, Mauritius, Madagascar, Mayotte, South Africa, Botswana, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, China, Macao, Japan, the United States, Brazil, Portugal, England, Germany, Morocco, Tunisia, Spain, Luxembourg, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Italy, India, the Netherlands.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jace French graffiti artists Living people 20th-century French painters French male painters Year of birth missing (living people)