Romain Fueler's Ghostly Performances Challenge Norms

Parisian artist Romain Fueler uses masks, graffiti, and performance to explore exclusion and the right to be different. He dons horror masks and white sheets in public spaces, riding the metro or emerging from tunnels, often accompanied by photographer Émilie Désir. Their works, mostly in Paris, question everyday norms and conventions with a Dadaist, pointed approach. Fueler's graffiti, part of the Anti-Style movement, features playful, childlike fantasy creatures like ghosts and monsters instead of letters, often on trains, shutters, and trucks. He cites a large red birthmark covering over 50% of his body as a personal driver for exploring otherness. A homage to David Hammons' 1983 snowball-selling performance in New York, Fueler sold snowballs in Paris's Stalingrad district while masked. His performances evoke a sense of melancholy and loneliness, like a figure escaped from a haunted house, unable to fit into the bustling world.