LA CLINIQUE

La Clinique is a fine store located at Carrer dels Mirallers, 7, 08003 the heart of the El Born neighborhood in Barcelona, Spain. Opened in 2010, La Clinique focuses on a unique approach to vintage shopping. They specialize in high-end and luxurious vintage eyewear, brand new from the past and unworn from the 20th century. They also carry select classic pieces of rare clothing, accessories, jewellery, perfumes…

I had the pleasure of painting La Clinique’s shutter, an image from  Jean-Luc Godard film “Vivre Sa Vie”. It was painted in the spectrum of La Clinique’s interior colors and now has become somewhat of an icon painting in the neighborhood!

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The following photos feature the interior of the store, as well as some customized feather earrings I sold there. Upon returning in 2012, I also hand painted a street sign that needed to be completely re-worked.

La Clinique ExteriorLa Clinique ExteriorLa Clinique InteriorLa Clinique InteriorLa Clinique InteriorLa Clinique InteriorLa Clinique InteriorLa Clinique Exterior
Feather Earrings in La CliniqueeFeather Earrings in La CliniqueFeather Earrings for La Clinique
La Clinique Hand Painted SignLa Clinique Hand Painted SignLa Clinique Hand Painted Sign

Then came the published painting in a book series. The first was published in 2015 and the second will be published in 2017.  This letter written to me describes the beauty and meaning behind the book “Barcelona Urban Art” a personal collection of shutter paintings by Stéphanie Martin Petit.

Hola Krista,

I’m writing to you from Barcelona. Manu (owner of La Clinique) gave me your contact this morning and I’d like to tell you the story of your (wonderful) painted shutter and me.

It started 10 years ago when I moved in Barcelona. I fell in love with the painted shutters and I started to take pictures of them each time I was seeing one. Walk after walk the collection grew and now I have more than 1200, exclusively from shutters and exclusively from Barcelona. For a long time I did not have a favorite one…until I saw the one you did. I am a movie lover and I was coming back from a movie class that night. And suddenly, in the darkness of the night, emerged Anna Karina! I could not believe it and it has been a magical moment for me.

At the beginning of 2011, I read an article in La Vanguardia stating that since December 2010, Barcelona administration published a law which forbid the painting in the shutters and will bill the owner of the shops of 600 Euros. I was furious and could not understand the purpose of this stupid law. From that day, added to the fact that I had just accomplished 800 pictures, I decided that my colourful hobby will be also a fight against this law.

The first thing I did was to write to the journalist from La Vanguardia, author of the article. She replied to me almost immediately, supporting the idea that this law is stupid and against art. She encouraged me to do something with the pictures as exhibitions and a book for example. And that is exactly what happened. I did my first exhibition in March and I will launch another one in the Niu Art of Barcelona the 5th of September.

I am giving interviews to different media and there is a lot of enthusiasm around those paintings. I hope that all this ‘movida’ will change the law. And each time I have to send some material, your painting is always the first one I select. I was so glad this morning to finally know who is the author. Colourful regards from Barcelona,

Stéphanie