Prefaced by Mode2, Cosmonometry is the first monograph dedicated to the artist Pro 176, an active member of the CP5, GT, UB and RTZ crews, to name a few. The book motions from his beginnings in the 90’s to nowadays, exploring the universe of this artist rooted in Graffiti culture. Throughout the pages, his cosmic murals, his sketches and canvases show Pro176’s evolution towards what is now commonly called “Galactik Style”. Cosmonometry is his relentless research in letter geometry. Trough over 400 visuals and essays on his arts, the artist gives us the full generosity of his art. The reflections of prestigious contributors such as Skeme, Oeno, Cope2 or Jay1, amongst others, emphasize his own words. Diksa: “Pro176 doesn’t follow the Hype, rather staying away from it. He is more interested in creating his own dimension, where heroes, super villains, creatures, wizards and witches mingle together.” Or furthermore, David Pluskwa: “Today, his deconstructions, dislocations and surprising acrylic transformations place him in the lineage of Roy Lichtenstein or Gudmundur Erró. To this day, he is one of his most renowned successors. All texts are in French and English.
Drawing is his true gift. Having bathed in American comics when he was little, Pro176 discovers the world of graffiti in 1989, watching Colt and Mode2 at work in his hometown Choisy-le-Roi. That was the trigger! Pro176 did not choose graffiti, it simply hit him. It did not take long for him to start tagging.
In 1995, having already gained a reputation of a professional in the field, Pro176 changed his tag to “Pro” and added “176” in relation to his birth year, but he left out the “9” in order to have a tag with three digits like the masters of New York graffiti from the seventies.
In 1996, he joined the Grim Team, and the following year the UltraBoys. At that time, Pro176 declares a new form of graffiti, an unparalleled style deeply rooted in typography. Aesthetics is futuristic as much as cubist which always revolves around three letters – “P”, “R”, “O”- his trademark.
From his early works up to the latest creations, “Cosmonometry” book offers a real delight in large format photographs and in many texts that illuminate the work of this unique graffiti artist that has marked both the French and the European street art scene. Since 2013, Pro176 has also achieved a huge success in galleries. Nevertheless, he remains true to the same direction he took 18 years ago without losing his audience. This tells us how much Pro176 is inventive artist and capable of constantly renewing himself.