Ememem

An anonymous artist based in Lyon, Ememem laid a first mosaic in a city alleyway in 2011 before coining the term "flacking" on 1 February 2016. The concept: filling cracks, potholes and crumbling asphalt with vivid geometric mosaics that turn every pavement wound into a gateway to somewhere more poetic. The pseudonym mimics the sound of the moped ridden on nocturnal outings — the artist works exclusively after dark and has never revealed their identity, age or gender.

Dubbed "le chirurgien des trottoirs" (the pavement surgeon), Ememem quickly spread beyond Lyon. Colourful repairs now dot the streets of Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Turin, Genoa, Oslo, Melbourne and as far as Ireland. In 2021, the Société du Grand Paris commissioned the decoration of a future Grand Paris Express station, marking the shift from guerrilla intervention to institutional recognition.

Citing Jean Dubuffet's "Célébration du sol" as an influence, the artist sees each piece as "a poem everybody can read" and a memory notebook of the city. With over 169,000 Instagram followers, flacking has grown into a movement in its own right — proof that urban art can emerge where eyes least expect it, beneath our feet.