144 pages Edited by Thibault Choay Designed by Julien Cadou 21 x 14,8 cm Language: French Paperback Publisher: Classic Paris Limited edition of 500 copies 2010
The VAD emerged in Paris at the very beginning of the 1990s, first and foremost a graffiti crew: Honet, Stak, Earl, Nascio, Noé Nadaud NP77, Silvio Magaglio, Gues, Smurf, 2Shy, Spit. Va Au Diable — go to hell — as a definition of their view of life as a self-destructive mass ritual. Earl started it with Aye and BDB: they wanted a phrase that hit hard and sat slightly out of context, and rejected "on nique tout" for it. Tags, métro and rooftops, and from 1992 a connection to the DKA through Neac.
Twenty years of extreme activity on the streets of Paris — alongside the parties, the travel and the deviance of every kind — left its members with a serious body of artistic practice as well. Each has since taken a different path and built up work in a style of his own. The book was made for a Paris exhibition that reunited the whole crew, opening 24 June 2010, and the two work against each other by design: the book documents the graffiti years, while the show gave the floor to each member's solo work in painting, installation, photo, video and sculpture.
