Sunday 25 July 2010

Fabien Merelle: Myths and Death in a Child's eyes


French artist Fabien Merelle's works remind me a lot of some drawings I saw in the Black Heart in Camden, a pub quietly tucked away in a corner and determined to remain goth after refurbishment with pictures of Jesus, crosses and skeleton.

Among these are several pencil drawings by "K Woodard" from the 1980s featuring animals in bizarre human clothes killing other animals or humans, all with incredible details and precision. You can almost feel the furry texture of the fox's legs and the lightness of the feathers on the giant bird with humans in its beak. They are dark, mythological and fascinating. After a few unsuccessful attempts to locate Woodard's works on the Internet, I found Merelle by chance and noticed that his works have got exactly the same magical powers, only that he mixes his portions with slightly different ingredients.


Using ink on small scale papers, Merelle's works are also incredibly detailed, almost like a scary child's dream ready to be told to adults with excitement. Merelle studied Fine Arts in Paris and spent a year in China on an exchange program. Perhaps it's the Chinese art's subtlety and lack of colours that helped to shape Merelle's style.

Merelle's last solo show was on in Spain at Michel Soskine Gallery in May 2009.

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