Can you tell us a little about yourself and your artistic practice?
Philippe Baudelocque, 47, artist, I'm best known for my black and white
drawings, using white chalk on a black background.
What is your background and how did you get into design?
I went through a graffiti phase in ’88–’89, which I consider my first serious and consistent artistic experience. I did it my own way because it was mainly about exploring visual and contextual ideas—namely, stepping outside the genre’s usual boundaries. I had several pseudonyms, including “FUSION,” which I still use today.
Whether formal or conceptual—because if I had to sum up my practice
in one word, that would be it. At the same time, I drew quite a few animals from life.
In your day-to-day work as an artist, what inspires you?
What triggers the creation of a work?
Everything.
Today, I'm creating a FUSION between all my projects. Black and white drawings are no longer the only works on display.
What I do contains: elements of graffiti, street art for certain modus operandi, rather classical art in the facture, contemporary art in my approach to the concept, modern art for the interiority, folk and traditional art, not forgetting primitive art, etc. I spend my time assembling all these elements.
Can you explain how you create a work of art?
What are the different stages of creation?
I no longer work on “coherent” series, because, deep down, that has never
been my way of working. For many years, I struggled with having to distort my style to conform to existing norms. I tend to work diagonally: I create a piece using one technique, and then, if I find a concept I want to express using another technique, I apply it. In the end, I’m left with works that engage in dialogue in multiple ways—aesthetically, energetically, and conceptually.
I use the term “decoherent” to describe this practice.
Neither coherent nor incoherent.