François BOUCQ Hécatombe

Huberty & Breyne is delighted to be hosting an exhibition dedicated to Hécatombe (Éditions Glénat), the new album in the Bouncer series, drawn by François Boucq. As well as a selection of original plates from the album, the exhibition due to run from 9 February to 9 March 2024 includes an exceptional series of large-format drawings created by the artist specially for this event.

Bouncer
Hécatombe, the twelfth volume in the famous Western series co-created by Alexandro Jodorowsky and François Boucq, lives up to its title, wrapping up a cycle of three albums in the most radical manner possible. The Bouncer and his fellow travellers have melted Maximilien's doom-ridden gold and deposited the ingots at the bank in Barro-City. The news spreads like wildfire and violence erupts in this little American frontier town. It is a story brilliantly illustrated by François Boucq, as each of the original plates displayed in this exhibition amply demonstrate.

XXL
Few comic book artists are comfortable working in a very large format. And few illustrators can compose such strong images in comparable dimensions. After sketching out quick drafts in miniature to get an overall sense of his compositions, François Boucq has created images redolent of the world in which Bouncer moves and lives and which invite the viewer to escape with the artist to another place and time. What we witness here is the perfect synthesis of North America's infinite expanses hinting sometimes at abstraction and the infinitely human element of the story's singular and iconic characters.

Though restricted to two dimensions, each of Boucq's images succeeds in bringing his subject matter strikingly to life. The format of his images gives the artist scope to express himself in free, sweeping gestures a gestural approach manifested in the density of the ink he uses and the way that density diminishes as the brush travels across the paper. The energy of these pieces is irresistible: the viewer feels it intently and is drawn right into the scene, losing him- or herself in the contemplation of the image. François Boucq is a masterful exponent of the ninth art and these drawings are the clearest evidence of that, if any were needed.

Opening
Thursday 8 February 2024
from 6.00 pm to 9.00 pm in the presence of the artist

Exhibition
From 9 February to 9 March 2024

PARIS | MATIGNON
36 avenue Matignon
Tuesday > Saturday 11.00 am ? 7.00 pm