Gribouillis Festival in Bordeaux: Philippe Katerine's drawing art, "tragic and cute" after all

The singer and musician, who is also a designer and sculptor, discovered the scenography of "Mignonisme" on Friday, September 12, exhibited at the Espace Saint-Rémi as part of the Gribouillis festival. In front of a small audience, he took part in a guided tour of his graphic work.

Relaxed under his bob, Mao jacket and sailor shirt, lunar air eclipsed by a mischievous smile, a touch mocking, Philippe Katerine, faithful to his character, came to discover, Friday September 12 in the early afternoon, the scenography of his works exhibited in the Espace Saint-Rémi, as part of the Gribouillis festival .

After viewing the other exhibitions in the venue – those devoted to Julie Delporte, Sophie Guerrive or to the emblematic authors of the 1960s and 1970s by the publisher Éric Losfeld – he took part in a guided tour of his work, in front of several dozen people who had taken the time to register for the occasion.

He was able to shed light on the concept of "Mignonisme ", this "artistic movement of which [he is] the only member", expressed in drawings, sculptures, installations, books (published by Éditions Helium), in short, in a very personal work, the subject of several exhibitions including this most recent one, hosted in Bordeaux and co-designed by Sarah Vuillemoz (Gribouillis) and the musician Philippe Eveno, friend of the singer.

“A song takes three minutes to make an impression. The impact of a drawing takes five seconds.”

A concept that emerged during lockdown, like "a spark," born from the assembly of disparate things, a way of "fighting against the pressure of reality," a falsely naive art, "a mixture of tragedy and cuteness," of humor (always), of death (sometimes), of sex (also). An art approached like child's play? "Children are another level, which I lost a long time ago, alas. Unfortunately, I acquired a tiny bit of technique," regrets the singer, who studied visual arts in Rennes after his childhood in Vendée. "When I was little, I also wanted to be a designer. Things turned out differently, but I never picked up the pencil," recalls Katerine, who practices drawing "almost every day, as a healthy lifestyle."

He describes his search for a clean line, without shadows, executed "quickly," spontaneous and reactive: "With a drawing, you can formulate something that would have taken you two or three books. It's still fantastic." When asked about his influences, he cites Hergé and Charlie Brown (Schulz), supporters of the clear line, or Calder "for the spirit": "It's as if I were drawing with a wire, trying never to lift the felt-tip pen." Questioned about the differences with music, he again talks about temporality: "A song, if you go all the way, it takes three minutes to have an impression. The impact of a drawing is five seconds."

Talkative and joking, Katerine also has a sense of posing and when it is pointed out to him that his look of the day is particularly in keeping with his "pink self-portrait with finger in the nostrils", just behind him, he plays the game of spot the difference, in front of the cameras.

The informal exchange concluded with a book signing session, which the artist was to continue into the evening at the Gribouillis Book Fair, which runs until Sunday evening at the Garage Moderne in Bacalan's Cité Bleue. "Mignonisme" is on view until September 28, along with a dozen other exhibitions in town as part of Gribouillis.

www.festivalgribouillis.fr