Some exhibitions announce themselves as appointments. And then there are those that announce themselves as uppercuts. On December 12, the second kind lands in Bordeaux: RNST, a major figure of French street art, opens his solo show “MOI J’AIME BIEN LA BAGARRE” (I DO LIKE A FIGHT) at Galerie Magnetic. The title sets the tone. The poster confirms it. So does the artist's style. Between blunt irony, no-detour engagement and raw humanity, RNST isn't the type to turn the other cheek - he holds up a mirror, sometimes violent, often tender, always clear-eyed.
RNST, the artist who prefers the street to detours
Born in the 1970s in Paris, active since the 1990s, RNST belongs to the generation that made graffiti a daily language, a reflex, a free territory. Self-taught, he passed through stencil, collage, graffiti, silkscreen. He belongs to the artists who asked nothing of the Academy and learned everything on walls, at night, on the asphalt, in wastelands. His work is clearly engaged. But not moralistic. He calls out without preaching. He pricks without attacking. He tells without sugar-coating.
RNST is:
- masked faces, a reminder that anonymity sometimes tells more than displayed identities;
- shock images, but never gratuitous;
- political and social themes, from the treatment of migrants to police violence;
- and that underlying, almost romantic tenderness that makes every piece more human than militant.
That's his signature: he talks about the world, about society, about power relations, always with this rare ability to keep a piece of childhood, humor, poetry.
“Moi j’aime bien la bagarre”: an exhibition that promises visual punches
RNST: 30 years of walls, ink and stances
RNST doesn't come out of nowhere. His path is marked by strong exhibitions, often in groups, sometimes solo, and an active street presence for over thirty years.
A few reliable milestones from his path:
- Permanent galleries: Bear Galerie (Uzès), Lavomatik (Paris), Orlinda Lavergne (Mulhouse), X23 Gallery (Leipzig), Colab Gallery (Germany).
- Notable events: ARTTAK Festival (Bergerac 2023), ART3G Bordeaux in 2015, ST’ART Strasbourg (multiple editions).
- Standout solo shows: « Happy Days » at Lavomatik (2019).
- Engaged publications: Les Murs Révoltés, Le Street Art et Charlie, and several personal books including Sans Dieu ni Titres.
RNST is one of those who keep writing their story in the street as much as on gallery walls.
“Moi j’aime bien la bagarre”: an exhibition that promises visual punches
The title may make you smile, but here « the fight » isn't gratuitous. It's a language. A point of view. A state of the world. RNST doesn't celebrate conflict; he watches the human comedy, its tensions, its absurdities. The poster already reveals the spirit: a young boxer holding up against a giant mascot that stumbles. A symbolic fight: the small against the giant, the individual against society-as-spectacle, courage against the machine. His Bordeaux show promises to stay true to his DNA: no gloves, just ink; no speeches, just impact.
Confirmed useful info
- 📍 Galerie Magnetic, 16 rue du Faubourg des Arts - Bordeaux
- 🗓 December 12, 2025 → January 12, 2026
- 🎉 Opening Friday December 12 - 7pm to 10pm
Galerie Magnetic (already used to strong street art hangings) hosts here one of the loudest voices on the French scene.
