Description

“I would like to be free enough with my drawing to warp it and betray it from end to end. As a teenager, I thought it would be possible to unlearn sufficiently enough in order to invent new forms of expression to suit whatever one desires. I realize now that just as a singer is capable of reaching the limits of their vocal potential and amplitude without changing their voice, an illustrator can endlessly explore the space where their own distinctiveness lives without leaving it. When I draw, the strokes that turn out to be the most accurate happen when I pick-up speed. The hand must move on its own and react faster than the mind thinks. I can only observe what is happening.  A good drawing is made when the hand betrays the head.  What can be applied to life can also be applied to paper: the more I seek to control the further away I am from the truth. It is only true when I surrender to whatever wants to come out.  I regard the artistic practice as a long process where you learn how not to make any effort.”

In this book, Zéphir presents a series of images created during a series of residencies culminating in an exhibition at the Galerie Martel in Paris. As part of this series, Fidèle publishes the book accompanying the exhibition, along with an artist’s text questioning their practice, limits, and sharing their quests. The days not being long enough, the images are born during the artist’s night rounds, waiting for that unique moment when the body becomes the tool and one realizes, almost as a spectator, that the work is being created before our eyes.

Printed in four color offset on Munekn Print 115g, hard cover cloth binding with a hot foil.

“I would love to share some of these moments, these pieces of the night where something takes shape suddenly. With a stroke, colour opens up, a line vibrates, the material comes to life and lets us in on a kind of mystery. We think about this without really believing it – surprised to catch a clear glimpse of what drawing and after drawing seeks.”