“We usually tend to recognise familiar forms in abstract shapes, but it’s the opposite that interests me,” says artist Alex Besikian. “I use existing pictures to create new compositions, as a collage, directly through drawing,” he explains. Predominantly using graphite or coloured pencils, his traditional tools create fluid, colourful shapes and reflections that move across each other. The artist isn’t all analogue though, Alex tells us his computer is “a precious tool for combining different printing textures like Riso scans, adding screen-tones or composing drawings based on photographs.”
Although born and raised in Paris, the artist has a special affinity with Japan. As a place he has travelled to regularly since 2014, the country is still the main source of inspiration for his creative work from its architecture to design and music. “I’m fond of the Japanese post-war pop artists such as Tadanori Yokoo, Keiichi Tanaami of course and definitely the masters Kiyoshi Awazu and Shigeo Fukuda,” Alex shares. The artist is also influenced by David Hockney’s works from the 60s, the illustrations of Enzo and Iela Mari and Italian architect and Memphis icon Ettore Sottsass.
A large part of Alex’s practice is searching for ways to “translate digital compositions on to paper” which leads the artist to constantly question the notion of original or unique work.
“I like to blur the limits between what can be recognised and what can’t be, by playing with our visual memory or distorting pop culture references,” he shares. “I don’t copy or recreate the original material. It’s more about the details, outlines or backgrounds that lead me to create new shapes.” The artist’s subjects then are extrapolations from visual sources he finds “or that find me”, he says, (recently the 1964 Tokyo Olympics archives).
Making Riso prints and publications is one of the artist’s favourite ways to share his work. Whether self-published under his title Mudai Editions, or collaborating with Editions Matière and Quintal Atelier, Alex has created a number of tactile drawing books, in handmade small editions. If you are based in Paris you’ll be able to grab a copy of his works on paper at Yvon Lambert, Agnès B, Librairie du Palais de Tokyo, or Galerie Arts Factory.