Thirsty Bstrd — Julien Surdeau — is a Parisian street artist whose visual language combines the stencil precision of the street art tradition with the satirical intelligence of a practitioner who has been observing the absurdities of contemporary life with a sharp and genuinely funny eye. His practice moves fluidly between the street and the gallery, the urban installation and the signed limited edition print — a dual presence that reflects his commitment to making work that functions in both contexts without compromising for either.
His visual subjects are drawn from the full range of contemporary culture — political figures, cultural icons, everyday objects, the specific iconography of science fiction and popular mythology — all subjected to a process of recontextualisation that finds in familiar imagery new and often uncomfortable meanings. His Future Leader series asks, through colour and palette alone, who the leaders of tomorrow will be and what kind of world they will inherit. His Star Wars works — Han Solo Banana, Princess Leia Bazooka, Smiley Stormtrooper, Laugh Now Ewok — bring the mythological figures of American science fiction into contact with the visual language of European street art with a wit that makes the combination feel genuinely inevitable.
He has exhibited in New York, London, and Tokyo, and collaborated with brands across multiple sectors. His Monsieur Lanceur de Fleurs — the Flower Thrower tradition of street art reinterpreted through a distinctly French sensibility, the act of throwing given a name and a nationality — is among the most formally accomplished works in his catalogue.
Available through Creed Gallery, Ascot, for collectors across Berkshire, Surrey, Weybridge, and London.
