The release of street artists Sten & Lex's monograph coincided with their first official solo show at the CO2 Gallery in Rome. The Roman duo took their first step into a traditional gallery setting with this exhibition, which focused attention on their new and innovative approach to the use of the stencil poster technique. The duo started working together in 2000 and have since pioneered several revolutionary stencil techniques that are showcased in this book. Also included are a number of insightful critical texts by Maria Letizia Bixio, Davide Giannella and Gianluca Marziani and an introduction by gallery owner and curator Giorgio Galotti. AUTHORS: Sten (born 1982, Rome) and Lex (born 1982, Taranto), known as Sten & Lex, are two Italian street artists. Sten & Lex have been doing stencils on the street since 2000/2001 and today their work is part of the urban landscape in London, Paris, Barcelona, New York City, and in their home town of Rome. During that early period in Rome, and Italy in general, there wasn't a strong stencil culture such as there was in France, and Sten & Lex are seen by many as the pioneers of 'Stencil Graffiti' in Italy and were the first to be considered 'stencil artists'. All the work of Sten & Lex results from an individual path that developed far from art academies and design institutes and far from a classic writing and graffiti background. The duo are best known in the history of stencil-making for introducing the halftone stencil technique, in which the greater part of their stencil portraits is composed of thousands of lines. They usually produce portraits of anonymous people they have photographed themselves or found in family photos album. 29 colour images
