Palais de Tokyo decided in 2012 to dedicate part of its programme to urban arts. The Lasco Project was born. Interventions by artists in the bowels of the Palais’ building have since been inscribing the street into art history. Since December 2012, roughly sixty international talents have been part of the action, including Futura 2000, O’Clock, Mode 2, Boris Tellegen, Dran, Skki, Evol, Vhils, Azyle, Horfée and Ken Sortais, duo Lek & Sowat as well as Cleon Peterson to name but a few.

The Lasco Project revolves around a variety of street themes such as urban violence, social demons and tensions, political messages and intergenerational dialogue. Paintings and installations are set in the obscur backdrop of the underground nooks and crannies of the Palais. Covering over two kilometers of corridors, stairwells and even some ‘secret’ passages, these roughed-in spaces below the Palais de Tokyo make up one of the strangest and most fascinating exhibition spaces dedicated to urban art contained in a cultural venue.