A2 and Oré — artwork #5853 by A2 · Lille, France

A2 is an anonymous French urban artist active in Paris. His pseudonym stands for "A squared" — "Amour et Anarchie" (Love and Anarchy) — the twin forces he places at the heart of his practice. A tagger since his teens, he turned to street art around 2010 and in 2011 adopted the persona of Louise Michel, the iconic figure of the Paris Commune, whom he depicts sporting a punk mohawk. His first major …

Originally from Caen in Normandy, the artist began doing graffiti in 1989 and spent a decade painting across European cities. He also pursued university studies in history and geography, driven by a desire to travel and explore other cultures. During a first trip to Mexico in 1998, he encountered Quetzalcóatl, the feathered serpent of pre-Columbian mythology — a figure that became the emblem of hi…