Le Grand Jeu

Le Grand Jeu Le Grand Jeu is a Parisian agency and bookstore devoted to street cultures.

Le Grand Jeu is a Parisian agency and bookstore, created in 2012 by Christian Omodeo. We develop projects and events for public institutions and private companies that want to collaborate with graffiti writers and street artists. We are internationally renowned for our knowledge of the history of art in public spaces and for an expertise that constantly allow us to provide a high-quality service o

f art advising and curatorship. All over Europe, important institutions and brands, such as the French Minister of Culture, the Foundation Genus Bononie, Public Services International, Pirelli, Prelios and Fandango have already trusted us. In 2015, our passion for graffiti writing and street art led us to create a webstore where to buy old and rare books and magazines devoted to these street cultures. Our store is today internationally considered the place-to-be, if you are searching both for new and old publications focusing on graffiti writing, street art and related topics. Johan Huizinga wrote in ‘Homo Ludens’, his famous essay from 1938, that game is the very condition of the existence of culture. This is our name is Le Grand Jeu (The Big Game) and why our logo evokes the fabulous ’L’Introuvable’ by Marcel Mariën.

GRAFFITOMANIA & THE OWL CULTWhat do monikers, antifascist erasures, imaginary birds & cinephile graffiti have in common?...
14/06/2025

GRAFFITOMANIA & THE OWL CULT

What do monikers, antifascist erasures, imaginary birds & cinephile graffiti have in common? 🖍️ They’re all part of a rogue archive of public writings — collected by artists, researchers & curious streetwalkers.

🦉 On June 20, join us for a special night with the Owl-Watcher Society (a.k.a. L’Amicale du Hibou-Spectateur), a collective digging deep into the weird, the wild, and the handwritten traces of subcultures past and present.On the program:

🔹 North American Monikers by Myles Hunter
🔹 Graffiti in Comics by Obisk 93
🔹 Cinéphile tags from Brittany by Les Frères Ripoulain
🔸 New releases from Éditions Carton-pâte: Moscato, Downey, Taïeb…

Come flip through fringe archives, meet the watchers, and discover what the streets have to say — if you know where to look.

🗓 Thursday, June 20
🕕 6–8 PM
📍 Le Grand Jeu, Paris

SUMMER VIBES🚴‍♂️ Rider culture, old school vibes, and French BMX heritage — all packed into the latest issue of , the go...
12/06/2025

SUMMER VIBES

🚴‍♂️ Rider culture, old school vibes, and French BMX heritage — all packed into the latest issue of , the go-to zine for fans of freestyle, racing, and vintage 20-inch life.

Created by — a key figure in the French BMX scene — Bicross Mag dives deep into the golden age of French bicross with passion and style. A magazine made by riders, for riders.

📍 Come check it out in our magazine corner, where we showcase a sharp selection of fanzines, indie journals, and print gems from across the urban culture spectrum.

STRAIGHT FROM JAPANA brand new drop from , the Tokyo-based powerhouse behind some of the world’s most collectible and be...
09/06/2025

STRAIGHT FROM JAPAN

A brand new drop from , the Tokyo-based powerhouse behind some of the world’s most collectible and beautifully crafted photo books. Known for their impeccable offset printing, tight artist collaborations, and limited editions, Super Labo books aren’t just publications — they’re tactile, visual experiences built to last.

This new selection includes:
- Richard Renaldi – Star Wars T-Shirts
A portrait of fandom through vintage tees and everyday faces. Americana meets obsession.

- Alain Levitt – Everybody’s Guilty, No One’s to Blame
A raw, visual confession — fragile, honest, and hauntingly intimate.

- Alberto Polo – The Urge of Living
Skate culture, house shows, and everyday chaos. 165 photos shot over a decade — urgent, electric, alive.

- Ed Templeton .templeton – City Confessions #3 Paris
The legendary skater-artist walks the streets of Paris, capturing its beauty, grit, and absurdity with his signature eye.

- Arto Saari – Bike Path
From concrete to coastline — Arto’s serene photographic journey along O‘ahu’s North Shore is a quiet meditation on change, healing, and light.

- Ray Barbee .barbee – The Joy is Capturing the Journey
A soulful ride through photography, music, and motion — Ray Barbee blends rhythm and image like no one else.

Available now — in store & online.
Very limited stock. 

BEFORE THE HYPEGraffiti wasn’t always celebrated. In the 80s and 90s, it was criminalized, erased, and dismissed as « va...
07/06/2025

BEFORE THE HYPE

Graffiti wasn’t always celebrated. In the 80s and 90s, it was criminalized, erased, and dismissed as « vandalism. » And yet, this raw, illegal energy was the spark behind many of today’s most respected urban artists.

With “Vandalisme”, Tarek Ben Yakhlef — author of the cult book Paris Tonkar (1991, reprinted in 2024) — returns to the origins of French graffiti, diving into the hidden history of the writing scene in Paris and its suburbs. Through over 500 never-before-seen photographs, personal stories, and portraits of key crews and writers, the book sheds light on the rebellious roots of a movement that shaped cities and subcultures alike.

Join us at the bookstore for a book signing of Vandalisme, published by . Tarek Ben Yakhlef will be present to discuss the book, share stories from the early days of graffiti, and sign copies.

🗓 June 12
🕕 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
📍 Le Grand Jeu, Paris

GOSPEL FOR THE DEADThe Paris catacombs are not a place — they are a passage.A fault line in the real, where the living a...
07/06/2025

GOSPEL FOR THE DEAD

The Paris catacombs are not a place — they are a passage.
A fault line in the real, where the living and the dead brush shoulders in silence.
For over thirty years, Honet — graffiti writer, nocturnal pilgrim, chronicler of ghost zones — has descended into this underworld. Not to mock death, but to speak with it.

“Au Son De La Trompette Les Morts Ressusciteront” is the reverberation of that dialogue: a handmade book of photographs, yes — but above all, a resurrection rite.

Like Psyckoze – Intime Errance Cataphile (2016) — another haunted gospel from the deep — this book doesn’t seek to document. It conjures.
Graffiti becomes scripture. The rave turns into liturgy. Time spirals in on itself.
The catacombs stop being ruins. They become organs. A secret anatomy of Paris — pulsing, breathing, possessed.

In the endless flood of books about underground Paris, a few stand apart: those crafted by the ones who leave their mark in the shadows, who inhale the dust of the dead, who dance where others fear to tread.
These books are rare. These books are sacred.
And this one is no exception.

Published by Éditions Infinies in 100 signed and numbered copies.
The trumpet has sounded.
Few remain.

FOOTNOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUNDNext Wednesday from 5:30pm, Christian will be presenting his research on the fringes of pu...
24/05/2025

FOOTNOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND

Next Wednesday from 5:30pm, Christian will be presenting his research on the fringes of publishing at the in Stockholm.

Eleven years after releasing « Crossboarding. An Italian Paper History of Graffiti Writing & Street Art » — and as he increasingly refocuses on his work as a bookseller — this talk feels particularly meaningful.

It’s a rare opportunity to reflect on his journey as an art historian by training, obsessive collector, and book advisor, navigating between academic research and bibliophilic activism.

Because memory isn’t neutral — it’s a battlefield.
And sometimes, preserving a badly printed zine is more radical than curating a masterpiece.

Big thanks to Tobias Barenthin Lindblad and Greger Bergvall for making this happen — and to for the photo, taken back in 2015 at Le Grand Jeu’s old office.

P.S. No panic — Greta will keep the bookstore open while Christian is away.

📚 Talk – Archiving Subcultures: The History of Le Grand Jeu
🗓 Wednesday, May 28 | 🕕 5.30–6.30 PM (doors open at 5.10)
📍 The National Library of Sweden’s auditorium in Humlegården, Stockholm

CALL IT VOYEURISMWhat does it mean to collect what others discard? To turn street waste into visual poetry, fe**sh, or e...
19/05/2025

CALL IT VOYEURISM

What does it mean to collect what others discard? To turn street waste into visual poetry, fe**sh, or evidence of urban decay?

« Trucs » is a book that shouldn’t exist—and yet, here it is. Shot and assembled by , with texts by Mehdi Belhouaïchat, this 84-page object is part photo essay, part anthropological drift through the sidewalks of Paris and its suburbs. Every item featured was found on the street. Every photo is a relic of someone else’s trash—reframed as testimony.

Edited by in just 50 copies (10 of which come signed and with additional prints), « Trucs » is as useless as it is unsettling. It’s a tribute to compulsion, perversity, and the chaotic beauty of the everyday. Call it voyeurism, call it a manifesto against good taste—either way, Trucs sticks.

Come discover it on May 22, from 6pm, at Le Grand Jeu bookstore. No need to bring gloves—we’ve already done the dirty work.

📅 Thursday, May 22
🕐 6:00 PM – 8:O0 PM
📍 15, passage de Ménilmontant 75011 Paris

WITCHES, WALLS & NIGHTLIFEFrom club culture to witchcraft, tattoos to suburban creativity — France’s museums are turning...
15/05/2025

WITCHES, WALLS & NIGHTLIFE

From club culture to witchcraft, tattoos to suburban creativity — France’s museums are turning up the volume this spring and summer. Here are some standout exhibitions to add to your cultural itinerary:

🎧 Clubbing – , Paris (May 13 – Oct 1)
An immersive dive into nightlife history, from New York to Berlin, curated by Pierre Giner. Think beats, video, and digital art all in one.

🌀 Labyrinthes – Musée des Beaux-Arts, Chartres (Apr 5 – Aug 3)
Lose yourself in the art and symbolism of mazes, just steps from the iconic Chartres Cathedral.

🏙️ Banlieues chéries – Palais de la Porte Dorée, Paris (Apr 11 – Aug 17)
Over 200 works celebrating creativity and resilience in France’s working-class suburbs — from graffiti to film.

🖋️ Tatouages en Méditerranée – Marseille, Centre de la Vieille Charité (May 17 – Sept 28)
Explore tattoo traditions across the Mediterranean, from ancient rituals to modern ink.

🧙‍♀️ Sorcières – Musée de Pont-Aven, Brittany (June 7 – Nov 16)
A haunting look at how witches inspired artists between 1860 and 1920 — where folklore meets feminism.

👻 Fantômes – Draguignan (June 21 – Sept 28)
Ghosts, myths, and poetic apparitions — a beautifully eerie journey through the spirit world.

Ready to plan your next cultural road trip? 🚗✨
Or grab the catalogs as soon as they roll off the press? 📚🔥
📖 Full article on the Journal: [link in bio]

love books

BEYOND THE BLOCKSAprès 12 années d’immersion patiente dans plusieurs quartiers populaires, le photographe Jean-Michel La...
12/05/2025

BEYOND THE BLOCKS

Après 12 années d’immersion patiente dans plusieurs quartiers populaires, le photographe Jean-Michel Landon sera à la librairie ce vendredi pour le lancement de La Vie des Blocs — son livre le plus fort à ce jour.
Entièrement auto-édité, ce projet audacieux et indépendant rassemble 123 photographies en noir et blanc accompagnées de témoignages recueillis au cœur des blocs. À mi-chemin entre documentaire social et geste artistique, il offre un regard rare et sensible sur des lieux trop souvent mal représentés.

Parce que chaque image parle, et que chaque voix compte.

—

After 12 years of patient immersion in working-class neighborhoods, photographer Jean-Michel Landon will be at the bookstore this Friday for the launch of “La Vie des Blocs” — his most powerful book to date.

Entirely self-published, this bold and independent project features 123 black-and-white photographs and testimonies gathered from the heart of the blocks. Somewhere between social documentary and artistic gesture, it offers a rare and sensitive look at places too often misrepresented.

Because each image speaks and each voice counts.

📍 Le Grand Jeu, 15 passage de Ménilmontant, Paris 11
🗓 Friday, May 16 – from 6pm

SHELF LIFEOne art fair, an international conference, a full-blown flood at the shop… and still, we pulled off a killer n...
10/05/2025

SHELF LIFE

One art fair, an international conference, a full-blown flood at the shop… and still, we pulled off a killer new book selection that you need to check out.

farewell to the Last Days of Summer, a deep dive into the politics of the dancefloor, and football as a mirror of neoliberal chaos with , the secret history of Marseille’s red-light district by , the definitive book on , an essential on Takashi Murakami, the wild world of .barrome.forgues, iconic 1980s design, raw and stunning monograph, and even a visual attempt to capture dance in motion. No filler—just books that hit different.

Available now in-store and online. Come get yours before they’re gone.

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