Exhibition at Galerie Ardulik, Paris

I've been friends with Jean-Jacques and Diane Launier for many years.  We keep meeting in Paris and San Diego Comic Con, and we've been trying to set up an exhibition of my art from "Cheatin'" for a while. 

Well, finally it happened.  On September 22, I flew to Paris, did a full day of press and then attending the opening at their Galerie Ardulik.  It's a wonderful gallery, they've had exhibitions of such luminaries as Moebius, Peter de Seve, Bobby Chiu, H.R. Giger, and films from Disney and Pixar.  So I'm in some pretty fast company.

I must say that they did an excellent job with the art selection and the mounting of the show.  Perhaps it's the best exhibition of my art that I've ever seen.  There was a nice crowd at the opening and I sold a few pieces, but I was very fatigued and got a little drunk. 

The next day, I got to relax and prepare for the big show at Jean-Jacques and Diane's museum, Art Ludique.  It was a fabulous exhibition of art from video games, and it was a knockout.  The art and videos were stunning, plus they had a lot of concept drawings and sculpture models.  Every piece was so compelling!  But the highlight was a life-size video recreation of walking through Revolutionary Paris in 1789 - like being transported to and immersed in another world and time.  It was incredibly realistic, I had to watch the 5-minute "walk" a number of times because it was so compelling. 

The cool thing about the Launiers' exhibitions is that they consider animation, graphic novels, comic art and video games to be valid forms of art.  In fact, they believe they have much more resonance with the public than the art in the Louvre - and I agree.  Of course, here in the U.S. and specficially in NYC, it seems the art crowd couldn't care less about comic culture - it's below them, it's for children.  This is why I rarely go to art museums and galleries.  Most of the new art stuff there is so aloof, it doesn't communicate with me.  Also, there's no real emphasis on drawing and draftsmanship. 

(And that's why my favorite gallery here in NYC is the Society of Illustrators.)

But if you're in France, or going to France, or know someone in France, I encourage you to check out or recommend my exhibition at the Galerie Ardulik.  It will run until October 31, and it's a great show!   For more information, please visit:  http://www.arludik.com/

Merci beaucoup,

Bill