Fabien Mérelle’s singular artistic practice is apparent in all his works, as he produces extremely detailed drawings using only ink and pencil. Since his graduation, they have become more ambitious, more detailed and more imaginative, as the artist expands his creative and technical horizons. Going against the trend of huge works with broad brushstrokes, Mérelle’s works are intimate, and demand close attention from the viewer.
The universe depicted in these works is extremely particular. On most, the artist depicts himself, simply wearing a vest and pyjama bottoms, often confronted with natural elements – an eagle, a snake, facing a tree – and put in a position of weakness. The drawings seem to imply that the artist features himself in a dream land, void of technology and urbanization. In a sense, Mérelle yearns to come back to a primeval state of man.
One group of drawings are infantile squiggles, meticulously conserved by the artist’s father, on which Mérelle has redrawn various elements. This allows him to face himself at different times of his life, and in a sense to travel through the years to reunite his individuality.
Born in 1981 in France, Fabien Mérelle has been trained at National School of Fine Arts in Paris and at the Xi’An Academy of Art. He has been widely exhibited, taking part in group shows at Kunsthalle Tubingen, Germany, the Drawing Center, New York, U.S.A., Centre Pompidou, Paris, France, and at the Musée de l’Abbaye de Sainte-Croix, France.
