YUNG CITY SLICK
A.K.A. LEV BOURLIOT
A.K.A. WILLY WANGLE JANGLE
A.K.A. HIM
LEV, a Texan artist of Mexican origin, is a painter, photographer, and filmmaker who navigated the alternative scenes of Houston and Dallas before arriving in Paris in 2019.
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Born in the South East Houston neighborhood, known for some of the highest poverty and gun violence rates in Texas, LEV delved into filmmaking during his teenage years. At the age of 17, he won a Texas Emmy Award for Best Live Broadcast Director.
Following film studies, he embarked on a documentary project about an artist who gained fame in the 90s in New York for his graffiti before transitioning to the fine arts in the 2000s.
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Over the course of a year, LEV filmed JM Rizzi, even residing in his car for several months to be closer to the artist, who lived in Dallas. This transformative year allowed LEV to learn significantly alongside Rizzi, shaping his own artistic practice. Simultaneously, LEV immersed himself in the alternative nightlife, becoming a regular at abandoned warehouses in the South West, organizing events that blended artistic gatherings with rave culture.
In 2019, as he completed his documentary, LEV experienced a burglary where all his work equipment, films, and backups were stolen. Following this painful incident, he decided to leave everything behind and relocate to Paris. After the move, he rediscovered the underground scene, becoming a participant in the alternative nights of the capital. This journey led him to Carbone 17, a squat occupied since 2017 by the eponymous collective of artists.
There, he established his studio and, within a few months, initiated several projects: creating a photo studio, a sewing workshop, and a program of workshops for young people in the priority neighborhood of Villette-Quatre Chemins in Aubervilliers. Continuing to be influenced by his mentors, LEV places a central focus on transmission in his projects. He strives to assist other artists in benefiting from the opportunities that have supported him and transforms his residence at Carbone 17 into a platform for collective growth.
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Despite his numerous projects, LEV doesn't lose sight of his initial love for cinema. He views every encounter and event in his life as raw material for a film in the making, narrating the underground scene from one side of the Atlantic to the other.