Arnaud Faugas

Professional since 2006.

CONVERSATION IN THE ARTIST’S STUDIO

> Arnaud Faugas, tell us about your career path-

After a literary baccalaureate in Bordeaux, I followed my father’s advice and began law school; however, I soon realized this was not to be my vocation, and decided to try my luck in Paris, where some of my friends had gone. As I parked my moped in front of the Cours Florent School of Theater, I let myself be dragged onstage. I never burned up the stage, but did discover a great deal about the expression of feelings, something new for me. From one stage to another, I left Paris for London, there to learn the language and become familiar with new cultures. After London came New York, where everything is possible! A few friends and I opened a restaurant on Martha’s Vineyard, an island off the coast of Massachusetts. We worked mostly in the summer, which allowed us plenty of time to travel for several months each year. We would cross paths in London, meet up in Peking by way of Moscow, the world was truly our oyster. Then, ten years later, it was time to return to Bordeaux.


> You are self-taught; how did you discover that you knew how to draw? Do you have any particular influences?

I still wonder what led me, one...

> Sem, Sonneville, Sempé: what do these names mean to you?

All three are from our good city of Bordeaux, have a remarkable graphic style, and create a universe that enchants us. They created an incredible body of work, and I admire them. I have spent a lot of time studying them and there is no doubt that they have influenced my work today.


> The city of Bordeaux has been a recurring theme since your beginnings; do you think you will ever get tired of it?

In my head is a Bordeaux that is a sort of musical comedy, where everything dances and twirls, even the building façades look a bit like a theater décor. In drawing, I over-interpret: everything is exaggerated, the past blends into the present, and then I have some fun slipping in a few surprises to be discovered by those who look closely.


> What would you like to say to us with your painting? Do you have a particular message?

My drawings are pretty talkative by themselves. If you stop in front of them they will tell you: take some time (for a coffee on a terrace), start a discussion (with a passer-by that you meet), smile (at the blue sky, at the sun, at a pretty girl), garb yourself in color, fantasy, lightness. If I had to give a message it would be; “Kn...

Collaborations avec LVMH (Dior), Repaire de Bacchus (affiches de promotion), Sud-Ouest (illustration du « Tire-bouchon », l’Amateur de Bordeaux, Art et décoration, Maisons du Sud-ouest, Office de Tourisme de Bordeaux, Mairie de Bordeaux, Mollat (marque-pages), Caisse d’épargne Aquitaine nord, le Festin, Conseil régional, Civb (illustration de plaquettes et affiches), Académie du vin de Bordeaux, Châteauonline, Chateau Carbonnieux, Château de Tauzia, Stanford University Gallery in Washington DC, LD Vins, SalinExhibition, Saint Emilion Vignobles Saby..