Today I find it useful to reflect on the road traveled, looking back to a time not long before HEY!, when in France, the fortitude and innovation of so-called alternative arts were overlooked in the predominant conventional art establishments. This was due to ignorance, lack of interest, and/or denigration because of how these arts were classified. The release of the first issue of our magazine in bookstores marked an undeniable paradigm shift, and the exhibition HEY! - Part I in 2011 at La Halle Saint Pierre museum offered a totally unexpected spectacle for the majority of visitors, the press and the art world. This cross section of international styles and eras was the coordinated vision of more than sixty artists and founding members of underground communities, assembled in an unprecedented manner. In this creative flux, many viewers were astonished to find artworks which defied conjecture and could not be reduced to their markedly grassroots sources of inspiration. To me, this resonated with the exemplary feedback Robert Williams’ work faced in the 1970s—how could we forget those American art critics who took pride in summarizing his relentless painting as “lowbrow art” ? HEY! expanded on this rebellious spirit in four cycles of exhibitions in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2019. These years were spent discussing the origins of a historical and coherent pop culture, its strident societal criticism and deviant qualities, its aversion to corruption inherent in the industry and mainstream mentalities, and maverick artists, pioneering dissonant new creations. Supported by La Halle Saint Pierre since the launch of the magazine in March of 2010, this initiative—unprecedented in France—has facilitated the discovery of many artists. Initiated in the 1980s by a small group of independent activists including myself, this groundbreaking effort, including the landmark exhibition Tatoueurs, Tatoués at the Musée du Quai Branly, has liberated the notion of ‘alternative’ and contributed to a transformation of its perception in institutions. From vestiges of a prison tattoo ‘a thought for my mother’ on aged skin to mutated iconography of comics, cartoons, graffiti, toys, rock posters, etc, I continue to examine the lively articulation of discourses and positions in the evolution of the arts that interest me, studying their state of constant adaptation. Of course, new horizons are now forming, with the operating principles of A.I. as a sword of Damocles. But even today, nothing could disrupt the dynamic set in place by HEY! as an international community of artists continues to forge a new and different art scene. HEY! CERAMIQUE.S opens a new chapter.