Chemin papier

The exhibition Chemin Papier, l’illustration et ses marges explores this question by focusing on the personal approaches of about 15 contemporary artists among the most talented in the international illustration field -  and inviting them to present series of original drawings and printed matter ( books, posters, fanzines, periodicals).

This selection of authors with their eclectic worlds shows the diversity of expressions and media in a creative pathway that always calls upon drawing and paper. The exhibition extends beyond the framework as to focus on the relationships between drawing and publishing, illustration and graphic design and to consider illustration as a meeting point between a multitude of applied arts.

Illustration, which can be considered as one of the numerous fields of graphic design, holds an important place in the curriculum of the art and design schools. At the same time, the media tend to dedicate more and more attention to it.  Even if there are many exhibitions about illustration in galleries, there are not that many opportunities to produce a high-toned exhibition bringing together French and foreign artists, young and confirmed illustrators, within one same project.

In its young age, in the first years after its opening, le Signe endeavours to convey to the artists and audience the image of an institution that is open to all the fields of graphic design: typography, visual identities, illustration…

Chemin papier, l’illustration et ses marges offers a generalist approach: it shows the different  authors’ worlds in an original exhibition project including artist residencies in situ.

An unusual exhibition design, using simple materials, especially paper, echoes at the same token the architectural qualities of le Signe and the subject of the exhibition itself: printed drawings.