LE DERNIER CRI
By Carlos Perez Bucio / LivingArtRoom Magazine 2012
INTERVIEW WITH PAKITO BOLINO ABOUT THE EXHIBITION EL ULTIMO GRITO, FROM THE FRENCH ART COLLECTIVE LE DERNIER CRI, IN VERTIGO GALERIA.
Some years ago, a friend of mine, a plastic arts professor, introduced me to Le Dernier cri, a French collective of drawers and illustrators with a mission to populate the world with visceral, sexual, meat and homicidal images. Besides silk screen prints and limited edition books at affordable prices, they create animated pictures that luckily remind us there is life beyond Pixar. Everything is made with the highest quality standards, from the trenches of self-management.
I went to meet him on his latest visit to Mexico. Thanks to Clarisa Moura’s (director of Vertigo Magazine) intervention, I was able to talk to Pakito Bolino, high priest of Le dernier cri and his partner, draftswoman Marie-Pierre Brunel.
Carlos Perez Bucio: How did this exhibit came about?
Pakito Bolino: Because of Jorge Alderete, who took a peek on my workshop two years ago, when I had an exhibition in Aix-en Provence, on a graphic novel festival. He came to check out Le dernier cri’s work, saw the walls covered with images, the books, and he told me: “as soon as we open a new space, we’ll make an exhibit”. Then, the idea was for Vertigo’s inaugural exhibition to be ours, but it was postponed, and now we are finally here, on the second anniversary of the gallery, and we are quite happy.
Carlos: Were you surprised to have so many followers and raise so much enthusiasm in Mexico with Le dernier cri?
Pakito: I believe, from a graphic point of view, there are many similarities between Le dernier cri and Mexican art, in intention, content, color. Many of the collective’s artists have Mexican popular art influences, so I’m not that surprised that our work is appreciated here.
Carlos: Le dernier cri has been working hard for 18 years now. In what context was it born?
Pakito: I studied Fine Arts in the province and, as many others, went to Paris in the mid 80’s seeking to work as an illustrator and to publish my comic books. It was a time when the editorial world was facing a decline, many comic books and graphic novels ceased to exist and the big editorial houses stopped investing. Many authors got organized, created self-publishing associations and structures; Le dernier cri was one of them. It was the first time since the 70’s that authors got organized, edited their own work as well as other artists’, since there wasn’t any support for these types of work.
Carlos: Le dernier cri has always been self sustained, which means you ve always had total freedom. Have you ever appliedfor any public subventions?
Pakito: Yes, we have applied many times for specific projects, such as our animated films. For the most recent, which was two hours long, we asked support from the PACA region (Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur) but didn’t got it, I think because of the fact that our work does not fit in a single category. It seems a bit comfortable for the deciding party to say that our work “is not graphic novel, not art brut, nor art, not illustration; it is a little bit of everything”, and well, it is all that at once. I think art should be that way, but these people have to classify it because there is not a whole lot of budget for this or that projects. Also, we got a modest support from the city of Marseille, which we used to rent a premise, an old factory named La Friche, which was rehabilitated as an art centre with workshops for artists, that kind of stuff. Fortunately, this support has allowed us to punctually pay the rent for many years although, since it is a modest subvention, it doesn’t help much in developing new projects.
Back to the self-sustaining subject, my idea from the start was to assemble a silk screen printing workshop, since it is a technique that allows for high-quality small number printings and, at the same time, for artists to get directly involved in the project.
Carlos: And right in time for this event, El Ultimo GRITO!, unicamente la infeccion has just been published, a compilation of images made specifically by artists celebrating Le dernier cri’s visit to Mexico. Apart from correctly digesting popular Mexican imagery, the book has certain nods towards the reality of the country today, the moment of violence. Did the information about the cartels, murders, etc. had any influence on you at all?
Pakito: Actually the only information we get from Mexico from a year back is about the drug cartels wars, we get warnings about going to certain cities because it’s dangerous. But farther along, for example, are Fredox’s images; he works with clippings from popular newspapers such as Alarma! He has come to Mexico many times and knows all about it, but we also like to play with stereotypes.
Carlos: Politically, I place Le dernier cri among those who oppose globalization. There’s a sequence in the film Les religions sauvages where an American dollar passes off as a penis…
Pakito: Sure, the globalization of money, of financial markets that control the life of the people is a stupid thing. However, globalization as we do it, meetings among artists and editors from different countries, is something that should exist on a broader scale, it’s the positive side of that phenomenon. It’s a good thing that people meet, work together, create cultural bonds and find connections, since all countries of the world have a thing in common: art. You just need to take a glimpse into history, check out some of the primitive arts. We visited the pyramids yesterday. I saw sculptures of certain gods which reminded me of Asian art, and even some aspects of ancient European sculptures. It’s like carnivals, so deeply-rooted in popular culture around the globe: there are carnival costumes in Switzerland which resemble those of La diablada, in Bolivia. That’s why I try, be it on drawing or design, to find all of these links and show that there is the same essence, life, even when we draw skeletons. Skeletons are life!
Carlos: In LDC, we find artists that come from different places with different trajectories: there are youngsters and veterans, which may be a reflection of the multicultural mosaic of today’s France.
Pakito: Yes, but unfortunately there are not as many Arabian drawers as we would like (laughs). We have people from Finland, Japan, but the most common arc foreign artists who work from their countries. They have this do it yourself motivation. Like the case of Ichiba Daisuke, from Japan, who has self edited his work for the last fifteen years. I found his books before I knew him. If he had not made his books probably no one would know him. Most of the involved edit themselves, which creates links: first through books, then through animated films and the possibility of accepting resident artists in our workshop to work on impression. And there are the exhibitions, of course. In my travels, I always look for new authors that could be published in Le dernier cri. I think that, in the future, we could return to Mexico with a more ambitious project.
Carlos: Speaking of Young artists, we have Marie Pierre here. Mary, how did you approached LDC?
Maria: When I finished art school I found myself a little bit isolated. I started looking for a collective for young drawers, like LDC, to have a wider exposure; when you are on the underground, it is very difficult to find an editor. Collectives like Le dernier cri are an opportunity for young artists to show their work and publish monographic books. That motivates us to keep on working.
Carlos: I’m very happy to know that in France there are not only artists like Boltanski, Messager, Sophie Calle. Le dernier cri may be one of the best things to happen in the history of images, probably since the time of… “Picasso!”, (claims Bolino laughing)
Pakito: I agree. The problem with the art market is that we are talking about a global market. The art market is galleries that bloat the artist’s prestige, a few elected whose careers are under the gallery owner’s shadows. It has always been like that, and today is worse. For example, every day the number of galleries that take risks with new artists is reduced. They are not worried of establishing a real line, such as happened in the 1950s and 1960s. It is tougher every day.
Contemporary art is a completely incestuous medium; you finish art school, a good student, accumulate residencies around the world, while we inflate your prestige. That is how artists are bloated. We, for a change, are artists who first of all have the will to show our work through very accessible prices because we come from the book culture, from the graphic novels we could find for a few coins in newspaper kiosks. As you can see, it is not the same notion of “unique piece”, but a notion of spreading our work in the widest, cheapest way, to reach the largest number of people and have a real brain-infection effect on the masses, but doing so with intelligence.
Contemporary art is elitist; you require certain codes to be accepted in it, while our images are accessible to anyone. If you give one of our books to a guy in the street who reads Alarma!, he will get it instantly for sure. He will even laugh, because it is perfectly able to find the parody side of the matter, as in Fredox’s images. Now, the same thing in a 2 meter wide format in a gallery would not have the same effect or price. As a matter of fact, there is no gallery in the world that would allow something like that in their walls because then the system would be at risk, since the objectives are not similar. What ones understand for spreading is not the same, even when we also are willing to make some money selling our work.
Carlos: I have a friend in the art underworld who claims that a piece can be any thing, but the artist has to be handsome. Pakito: Well, McCarty is interesting when covered in shit and ketchup.
Carlos: Finally, I would like to ask you: what does a young artist needs to do to identify with LDC, to get close to you?
Pakito: He just needs to visit www. lederniercri.org and send us images of his work. That’s how I got to edit Sekitani, another Japanese artist. He first sent me an image. I asked him for more and he sent me his work from the previous two years, which nobody in his country would publish. That’s how he became a collaborator. We keep all the contact information from artists who get in touch with us, and get new images when we publish announcements for new projects. The Mexico special will include a 10% of artists that I don’t personally know.
Carlos: As far as the immediate, what will your next project be about?
Pakito: A compilation of drawings made by Mexican-american prisoners. In U.S. jails, chicanos make drawings on napkins to send to their families, who then sell them. Their aesthetics are related to that of tattoos. There’s a guy who recovered more than a hundred of these drawings, and will make an exhibition about it, while we take care of the catalog. That is true popular art prison art.
VİVA REVOLUCİÓN GRÁFİCA !
DÖRT KOLDAN GELİYOR !
Friche la Belle de Mai, Marsilya
16 Aralık 2017 – 4 Şubat 2018
Sergi, Frédéric Langlais ve Laetitia Brochier’un özel koleksiyonlarıyla açılıyor, acaip şeylerle dolu hücrelerin kapılarının aralanmasıyla birlikte halk sanatına özgü bu büyüleyici maskelerin, nesnelerin ve heykellerin değeri yeniden anlaşılıyor. Aynı zamanda 3D projeksiyon için seçilmiş görsellerle Meksika sanatının derinlerine dalıyoruz. Öte yandan sanat koleksiyoneri ve bir lucha libre uzmanı olan Jimmy Pantera’nın bu tema çerçevesinde sergilediği az bulunur afiş, dergi ve oyuncaklardan oluşan bir enstalasyon da bizleri bekliyor.
Serginin ikinci ayağı olan La “S” Grand Atelier sahnesi ise bizleri Meksika sanatının keşfine çıkartıyor. Belçika’da Ardennes Dağları’nın göbeğinde yer alan La “S” Grand Atelier, zihinsel engelli sanatçılar için birçok imkan sunmakta; bu yaratıcı atölyeler, sanat alanında profesyonel bir ekip tarafından denetlenmekte ve ortaya çıkan çalışmalar bir çok kültür-sanat alanında sergilenmektedir.
La “S” Grand Atelier Sanatçıları: Adolpho Avril, Barbara Massart, Benoît Monjoie, Dominique Théâtre, Elke Tangeten, Florent Talbot, Gabriel Evrard, Irène Gérard, Jean-Michel Bansart, Joseph Lambert, Laura Delvaux, Léon Louis, Marcel Schmitz, Marie Bodson, Marie-France Morin, Pascal Cornelis, Pascal Leyder, Philippe Da Fonseca, Régis Guyaux, Richard Bawin, Rita Arimont, Sarah Albert.
Misafir sanatçılar ve atölye animatörleri: Anne-Françoise Rouche, Anaid Ferté, Antoine Boulangé, Bertrand Léonard, Juliette Bensimon-Marchina, Fabian Dores Pais, Michiel de Jaeger, Dorothée Van Biesen, Raphaële Lenseigne, Paul Loubet, Dav Guedin, Pakito Bolino, Nicolas Clément, Alexandrine Lodé…
Serginin üçüncü ayağı ise yirmiye yakın Güney Amerikalı sanatçının yanı sıra birçok baskı atölyesinin işlerini de sergiliyor:
Meksikalı sanatçılar: Abraham Diaz, Alfonso Barrera Muñiz, Carlos Cons, Cristopher Diaz, Doktor Lakra, Federico Valdez, Fernando Arce, Haydee Nucamendi Gaona, Inari Resendiz, Israel Garcia Salcedo, José Martinez, Laura Barragán, Mario Guzmán, Oscar Camilo de las Flores, Ramon Sanmiquel, Roger Benetti, Santiago Robles, Sergio Hernandez, Taka, Toño Camuñas, Victor Palacios, Yescka, Los Lichis Kolektifi, Yope Kolektifi…
Kolombiyalı sanatçılar: Rat Trap Kolektifi, Sarcofaga.
Meksika’ya özgü baskı resim tekniklerinden biri olan gravür, benzer şekilde La “S” Grand Atelier için de önemli bir pratik. Bu nedenle sergide okyanusun her iki tarafındaki ayrıcalıklı işlerin sergilenmesi de kaçınılmazdı. Gerçekten de Oaxaca şehri, mezcal’i kadar baskı-resim alanındaki zengin kültürel mirası ile de meşhur, özellikle serigrafi, ahşap baskı, litografi ve benzeri baskı resim örneklerine, afişlere sokaklarda bile rastlamak mümkün. Bu baskı-resim geleneği, özellikle bir kaç gravür atölyesi tarafından temsil edilmektedir. Oaxaca gravür-serigrafi atölyeleri ve galeriler:
El Ojo Peludo, Siquieros Taller-Galeria tarafından yönetilen hapishane atölyesi, Taller Artistico comunitario, Cooperativa Gráfica, Taller de grabado Fernando Sandoval.
Ayrıca, Viva Revolución Gráfica! Üç Meksikalı sanatçının Dr. Lakra, Tono Camunas ve Abraham Diaz’ın Fransa-friche’te bulundukları süreçte ortaya koydukları enstalasyonu da sergiliyor.
Dr Lakra (Jerônimo López Ramírez, 1972 Oaxaca)
Meksika kökenli desinatör, ressam, heykeltıraş ve dövme sanatçısı olan Lakra’nın tarzı, Meksika sanatının tüm biçimlerinden esintiler taşıyor; Kolomb öncesi yöresel sanat, gangster estetiği, lucha libre sembolizmi, 1950’lerin sosyete dergilerinden manipülasyonlar… Lakra, kağıt üzerine de dövme yapmaktadır: Ünlü şarkıcıların, güreşçilerin hatta oyuncakların bile. Resimlerinde saptırma (detorne) sanatının özellikleri taşır. Sanatçı bir aileden gelmesine rağmen dövme sanatına olan tutkusu zamanla çağdaş sanata olan ilgisinin önüne geçmiş; halk sanatını, Duchamp’ın kavramlarından daha soylu bir ilham kaynağı olarak gören Lakra, Oaxaca sahaflarından ve bit pazarlarından bulduğu materyallerden kurduğu bu ilginç dünyayla sanatçılığını ispatlamıştır.
Toño Camuñas (1967, Valencia İspanya)
Uzun yıllar Berlin’de yaşayan göçebe ruhlu sanatçı Toño, şimdilerde Madrid ve Meksika arasında mekik dokuyor. Çizgi roman kültüründen, dövme estetiğinden, absürt karakterler ve yaratıklardan meydana getirdiği bu hayal dünyasına uçuk bir ‘şiirsel terörizm’ diyebiliriz.
Abraham Diaz (1988 Meksiko)
Meksika yeraltı çizgi roman dünyasının önemli figürlerinden, genç sanatçı Abraham Diaz ise JOC DOC bünyesinde yayınladığı çizgi-romanlarla sergide yer almıştır.
Ayrıca Manuel Mathar, Gerardo Monsivais ve José Luis Rojas’dan meydana gelen Los Lichis kolektifi de eserleriyle sergide yer aldı.
Le Dernier Cri
2011 yılında Vertigo Galeri’de, ardından 2016 yılında IAGO’da (Instituto de Arte Graficas de Oaxaca) açtıkları sergilerden sonra Le Dernier Cri ilk kez kendi evinde ve Avrupalı sanatçıların orijinal eserlerini sergiliyor. Bunlar evvelki iki sergi için hazırlanmış olan ‘El Ultimo Grito’ kitabında yer alan sanatçılar. (Pakito Bolino, Reinhard Scheibner, Martes Bathori, Jiro Ishikawa, Emre Orhun, Mark Beyer, Céline Guichard, Alfons Alt, Fernando Arce…)
LE DERNIER CRI, 41 Rue jobin, 13003 Marseille
LÖPÇÜK 