Cyril Valade, known as One Mizer, is a French painter whose singular trajectory was shaped between two continents, a spray can, and a distinctly unconventional vision of the world.
It all began under the benevolent influence of his father, a sculptor and illustrator, alongside whom he learned — almost without realizing it — to look at the world differently. Later, it was in Africa — first in Senegal, then in Gabon — that he spent part of his childhood and adolescence. From those years immersed in sunlight and vivid colors, he developed a chromatic sensitivity that still radiates through his work today. It was there as well, through the guidance of a watercolorist neighbor, that his first timid and instinctive experiments with painting emerged, on small sheets of Canson paper.
Back in France, graffiti took hold of him completely. Fascinated by the murals glimpsed through train windows, he plunged into that world with voracious curiosity and never left it behind. From this period came his alias: One Mizer — a name built from letters he was particularly drawn to, preceded by the “One” traditionally used in graffiti culture to signify “the first of the name.” An artistic identity he chose to keep as a lasting connection to his urban and hip-hop roots.
His painting resists easy categorization. Through the détournement of icons, ironic reinterpretations of current events, and the reappropriation of collective memory, One Mizer has developed an instantly recognizable visual language. He appropriates symbols — the Statue of Liberty, Banksy’s imagery — only to twist them, question them, and infuse them with new meaning.
In 2014, he was invited to participate in the world record for the largest graffiti mural ever created in Dubai, alongside major figures of the international street art scene. Five years later, in 2019, he was selected among the 50 most talented artists of the year by the Contemporary Art Guide — a recognition he had carried within him like a promise since childhood.
At its core, for Cyril Valade, making art is a form of absolute freedom — though not without sacrifice: the sacrifice of laying oneself bare in the hope of touching something universal.
