{"id":213,"date":"2017-09-01T08:07:00","date_gmt":"2017-09-01T08:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/?p=213"},"modified":"2026-06-20T08:08:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T08:08:07","slug":"airwan-isle-groove","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/airwan-isle-groove\/","title":{"rendered":"AIRWAN ISLE GROOVE"},"content":{"rendered":"

AIRWAN ISLE GROOVE \u2013 AND PASTEL FLAMES IGNITE THE SUBWAY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

September 2017 \u2013 2108 words<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COURSE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did you become an artist?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By force of circumstance. An activity that initially seemed innocuous, secondary, like writing in a diary or the childish activity of drawing in magazines, could be the starting point of a silent quest for freedom. This happened during adolescence. A need arises: to translate thoughts into sentences, drawings, diagrams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I encountered the works of prehistoric caves, the graffiti photographed by Brassa\u00ef, and then abstract expressionism; names like Bacon and Basquiat were real graphic shocks. Then, as a suburbanite, I discovered Paris through its metro stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I've also been lucky enough to travel a lot. This inevitably opens your mind to other forms of language and writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

REPEATING FACES IN PASTEL<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the meaning of repetition in your work? Why did you choose to place it in the street?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It begins with an intuition. The practice of drawing comes later. I aim for a form of self-discovery through ritual, the invention of a personal language that ignites the universal language. A state of "non-action" is necessary, but it takes time. That's why I proceed tentatively, attentively, cautiously, and carefully, like the Little Prince and the fox, taming my style little by little, day after day. When an idea comes to me, I seize it. Then begins a phase of repetition on paper, bringing a kind of confidence through memorization, like a dancer tirelessly rehearsing their steps until they are "by heart," to find the right rhythm and lose themselves in the movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The street became the means of extending the white space of the paper, of prolonging this gesture which, from the horizontal table, moves to the vertical plane. Outside, it is an ejaculatory gesture in the Latin sense of the word. ejaculatore, "to ejaculate"\u00ab<\/em>. There is also a desire to showcase the findings, to make the attempts visible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Metropolises offer solitude, anonymity, and social density all at once. From this duality emerge... beautiful loosers<\/em>, individuals \u00ab"Good-for-nothings who affect people"\u00bb<\/em> (Lomepal), committing artistic acts whose modus operandi is repeated, finding in public space the means to materialize a poetics of intimacy that could not find its form anywhere else but in this place. My work on posters is linked to Paris, that's a fact. The Paris metro is the only one in Europe where 4x3 meter advertisements are placed even on the platform. Like bare skin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your work is defined by a great simplicity of line. What would be the symbolism for you of these faces, fleeting and very fragile figures?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There's something exhilarating about the drawing. Two simple lines\u2014one for the outline and the other for the gaze\u2014depict a human face in profile or a mask. Without falling into idolatry, I think images are mirrors turned inward. They don't address us; we are the ones who cast our gaze upon them. There is a meaning in the symbol and the sign that hovers above and beneath language. Something elusive. Take the rebus, the scientific diagram, mind maps, or even road signs. For a long time, I took the sign \u00ab"slippery road"\u00bb<\/em> for a Snoopy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simplicity is linked to this work of repetition that follows the mental image. I invoke a sign when I need it to create an arrangement. This sign must have simplicity at its core. Nothing is quite like the representation of the sky conveyed by hieroglyphs. A five-pointed star, an epicenter, a radiance. All of this happens in silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you talk about a memory repertoire in which your work is situated, what are you referring to?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three to four times a week, I create a series of about ten drawings. I cut the paper into identical fragments, like small patches of light on which an interference pattern will appear. Once the drawing is complete, I turn the fragment over to move on to the next. An order is created\u2014Shuffle. I have memorized about a hundred symbols so far. This mental repertoire is invoked when I am standing in front of subway advertisements. Once I have worked on the poster, I abandon the drawing and return to my walks. Sometimes other people take photos. The photograph then defines a new frame, and the symbol enters a new set, a particular collection. These photos, digitized and published on social media, produce yet another repertoire, but this time online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did the choice of oil pastels come about?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oil pastels allow me to work with very strong pigments. Also, the strokes create a texture; the pastel applied to certain surfaces has something violent about it, a sort of flayed skin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE ADVERTISING POSTER AND THE QUESTION OF FORMAT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You often use advertising posters as a medium.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advertising imagery is designed for a broad audience. The collective unconscious present in advertising stimulates my drawing repertoire, and a kind of reversal occurs. The poster defines a precise frame whose lifespan can range from twenty-four hours to two weeks. Its surface is often smooth, the images constantly changing, and certain background colors\u2014in both posters and illustrations\u2014are incredibly inviting. All of this contributes to maintaining and nourishing my imagination. The paper advertisements found on subway platforms, at this scale, need to be assembled from fragments, which is the job of the poster hanger. You find creases, joins, traces of glue and fingerprints. It's a beautiful material, which will soon give way to screens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Display also involves pasting\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is where the important figure of the billposter comes in. I wandered through the metro stations, meeting these rather fierce-looking men. I developed a relationship of trust with one of them, who liked drawings. He agreed to set some posters aside for me. This allowed me to collect advertisements that had fallen off the back of a truck from time to time. Once, one of them recognized me and didn't appreciate my approach at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it came time to think about my final project, I wondered what I was going to do, knowing that I had spent my entire schooling working on abstract drawing processes. Nothing to do with my work in the city. As if out of instinct, and perhaps a bit immaturely, I never really brought my poster-drawing practice to school. But the final project, thanks to the billposter, was like a triumph over this timidity. After assembling a panel to the scale of the advertising space, I asked the billposter to come and position fragments I had previously enhanced live. A truly great moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview, you mentioned the concept of a "picture to be augmented" when referring to advertising space. Would your drawing then be like graffiti, complementing a pre-existing work in a process of layering?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Augmented table <\/em>This refers to the large-format works seen at the Louvre or other national museums. Many of the works there are as large as subway advertisements. Starting from this idea, I wanted to recreate paintings\u2014a word heavily laden with connotations in art history\u2014by composing an image with fragments extracted from current advertisements, enhanced in the studio. That's why I call it a painting, because there's a freshness and an exploration in the choice of fragments, if not in the overall composition. It can be understood as a painter's gesture, with a deliberate choice of colors, or recurring motifs in the choice of forms. The background and the cropping offered by the advertisement are crucial to this selection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AN ANONYMOUS TRACE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your work is a trace, how do you preserve it?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through a third party's photograph. The photographic record extends the temporality of the trace and gives it a new existence. It also allows me to take a step back from what I do and to produce, with the help of others, images that ultimately no longer belong to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the photograph of your work would be an archival photograph?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Absolutely, although it's very rare that I can take a photo of my outdoor work. Before, during, and after drawing, my heart beats so fast that I quickly leave the scene without even taking a last look at the fresh drawing. But it continues to exist nonetheless. Sometimes people take photos and create an archive: this is notably the case with Guillaume Brachon, with whom I've formed a friendship, and whose photographs can be seen on social media. Since the original has disappeared, this photographic record will become the final trace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why anonymity?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think there are encounters that can only arise from silence, distance, and a particular kind of attentiveness to specific things. I'm very shy at first, so this protects me. I'm working on it; I'm letting things take their course. Also, anonymity, not without a certain irony, allows me to escape the temptation of holding the sole position of subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IMPROVISATION AND ABANDONMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEmotion usually washes over me when I am in a favorable state to receive it. The window in my heart must be open for the breath to pass through.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> Is your creative process linked to a form of improvisation?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Improvisation was born from the repetition of scales. I remember a friend, Julien Aubert, also an art student, explaining to the professor, to whom he was showing his painting, that he was practicing his scales. This made me realize that technical repetition allows for improvisation. Oriental-style calligraphy also helped me understand this. Being open to the outside world without disturbing the inner self; it's a meditative practice. I often think about the scale that allows a jazz musician to enter a trance. He couldn't do that if he had to focus on technique. I wouldn't say I go into a trance on the spot, but my heart beats fast, that's obvious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacques Coursil speaks to define improvisation <\/strong>\u201cof a premeditated act or of non-premeditation\u201d<\/em><\/strong> and considers that <\/strong>\u201cThrough improvisation, one must invent an event, that is to say, the advent of a present.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That's very interesting. I'm not there yet, because I need a motif and an external support to give form. However, my abstract work involves a large element of improvisation that doesn't stem from premeditation or rehearsal. With ink or charcoal, there are many more unforeseen events and accidents. Whereas with repertoire work, there is repetition, a search for a particular form intended to become a sign. But it's not inconceivable that these two forms might one day complement each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My work under the name Airwan Isle Groove lies at the boundary between drawing and writing, whereas with abstraction there is nothing left to say, only silence can receive the image. And it is then that it becomes music. As Miles Davis said \u201cShe\u2019s just passing through\u201d<\/em>. I became aware of this when I discovered the work of Cy Twombly. Here, there is a kind of struggle between a very primitive aspect of figuration and a form of frenetic handwriting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE INFLUENCE OF HENRI MICHAUX<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You wrote a thesis on Henri Michaux, which opens with this powerful sentence: <\/strong>\u201cExile is nothing other than the solution to an impossibility of surviving in a context where one cannot take root.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>. Can we not find there your fleeting figures that cannot be inscribed in time?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The figures in my crowds are unable to look behind them. Some faces, worried, are searching for the North Star, others are serene, tranquil, like the gentle trickle of water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are men and women in this world who live in peace and do not question Good and Evil. Even though I have forgotten their faces, I have met happy people, flooding the space with their serenity. To try to explain the bright light in their eyes would be to deprive them of a necessary missing element, that missing element which language cannot easily touch and which gives drawing its musicality. Not all exile is linked to the earth and physical borders. There is the exile of thought. Henri Michaux was this exile of the heart. His search for a \u00ab"a possible place for thought"\u00bb<\/em> This led him to attempt numerous graphic experiments. Working on this great, multifaceted artist has been very enriching for me.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AIRWAN ISLE GROOVE – ET DES FLAMMES DE PASTEL EMBRAS\u00c8RENT LE M\u00c9TRO septembre 2017 – 2108 mots PARCOURS Comment es-tu devenu artiste ? Par la force des choses. Une activit\u00e9 au commencement anodine, secondaire, comme l\u2019\u00e9criture d\u2019un journal intime ou l\u2019activit\u00e9 enfantine de dessiner sur les pages de magazine ont pu \u00eatre l\u2019amorce d\u2019une qu\u00eate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":214,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213\/revisions\/214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}