Stéphane Blanquet

Born near Paris, France, multimedia artist Stéphane Blanquet is a prolific figure in the contemporary art scene since the end of the 1980's. He is an innovative and compulsive artist whose aesthetics and creativity radiates in the various aspect of his work: art installations, artwork, urban art, animation movies, theatre, publishing, art direction. When he was a child, he once watched the 3D movie "Creature of the Black Lagoon" on the TV with his grandparents. The experience had a strong impact on him and he has, since then, been fascinated by the myths and codes of popular culture. He is peculiarly interested in illustrated magazines, joke shops, magic tricks, optical illusions and fairground art. From a young age, he started creating a dense and multifaceted work. He is keen on experimenting with different techniques and craftsmanship from around the world to create surprising artworks (at the Singapore Art Museum, he exhibited a set of hologram prints). He creates drawings, art books, paintings on linen, photographs of painted bodies, sculptures and works of art. In the 1990's, Blanquet was very active both as an artist and a publisher and became one of the leaders of the underground art scene. His art was exhibited at the "Regard Moderne" gallery/library (Paris, France) in 1993 and 1996, in the USA and in Canada. It has been published in Blab! (USA), AX (Japan) and in Europe. In 1996, he received the prestigious Alph Art du fanzine prize at the Angoulême International Comics Festival for his work as a publisher. In 1997, he went into animation movies and made "Le mélange des couleurs" for the French broadcasting company Canal +. In 2005, the "Les réanimations" DVD, which contained all his animation movies to date, was released. In 2012, he was invited by the university Sup Info Com Arles to create a movie, "Cornea", with a team of students. The movie was later shown at numerous festivals and exhibitions (in 2014, at the Museum of Fine Arts of Boston - USA). In 2001, a major retrospective of his work was displayed at the Maison de la culture de Tournai (Belgium). It was followed by numerous solo and group shows throughout the decade: Blab! Exhibition in San Diego (USA) and at the Luzerne Museum (Switzerland), the Cult Fiction exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in London and 6 others venues in the UK, a solo show in Fumetto (Luzerne, Switzerland), another one in Aix-en-Provence (France). In 2001, his first graphic novel "La nouvelle aux pis" was published by Cornélius. It was followed by numerous other publications: "Le Noir Seigneur", "Bouquet Bonheur", "Chochottes"... In 2007, a second graphic novel "La Vénéneuse aux deux éperons" was published, again by Cornélius. It was chosen as one of the 10 most aesthetically outstanding books published in France that year (Concours des plus beaux livres français). Various titles have been published in Japan, the USA, Spain, Italy, Brazil, etc. From 2002 onward, he started creating works aimed at a younger audience. He illustrated demanding texts for prestigious publishing companies, for example: "La vieille Chéchette" by Louise Michel (2006 - Albin Michel), "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Andersen (2010 - Gallimard). He also created installations and artwork: in 2013, in Singapore, he exhibited an installation at the Art Garden festival for children and families, organized by the Singapore Art Museum. In 2005, he met Jean Lambert Wild. It was the beginning of a long and fruitful collaboration in theater. At the "Comédie de Caen", a French national theater, he worked on stage and costume design, play writing and direction. In 2008, the play he co-authored and co-designed "Comment ai-je pu tenir là-dedans" was very successful at the Avignon festival and has been shown 200 times including in Japan and Korea. He is now working on a new play adapted from Shakespeare's Richard III. In 2007, he was appointed "Ocular Director", a sort of art director, responsible for the image and the visual branding for the "comédie de Caen". He created a strong image and his work has helped increase the number of visitors. Today, he is the art director in charge of the "Théâtre de l'Union", Limoges, where he has followed Jean Lambert Wild. Since 2007, with the publishing house "United Dead Artists", he published monographs (Topor, Gary Panther, Tanaami Keiichi...), magazines (Tendon Revolver, Muscle Carabine, Tranchée Racine...) and art objects under the brand "United Dead Toys". He published the work of about 200 artists in some 100 publications. The magazine "Tranchées Racine" has a print-run of 4,000. He also created a newsstand to present the publications which is regularly shown in museums and cultural centres. In 2008, he created an outdoor mural for the Kabinett Passage in the "Vienna Museumsquartier" in Austria. It was his first foray in urban art. In 2009, he presented a major installation for the "Quintet" exhibition at the Musée d'Art Contemporain of Lyon. It had a strong impact on a whole generation of artists. In 2010, he spent 3 weeks in Japan, where he had a solo show at the Span Art Gallery in Tokyo and participated in various events. He also presented installations in Singapore: in 2012, "Distorted forest" at the Night Lights festival and, in 2013, the "Glossy Dreams in Depths" installation at the Singapore Art Museum, covering 250 m2 seen by 100,000 visitors. Recently, he started working with commercial companies. In 2014, he created for Paramount Pictures an artwork that was used to promote the new "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle" movie. He also set a foot in fashion: he worked with the Belgium fashion brand KRJST.