ERIC MANIGAUD : Drawing

In a very meticulous and hyper-realistic way, Manigaud (Fr, 1971) makes large-scale graphite drawings of the agony in our European society. Through historical photographic archives, he appropriates these old images as such by transforming them through his particular draughtsmanship and creating captivating, monumental drawings as meta-realities of our recent afflicted past. 

Eric Manigaud’s work process begins with an extensive research on carefully selected topics of our collective heritage of suffering, based on photographic archives dated from 1850s until 1920s, an era when photography was considered scientific and objective. The photo-realistic aspect in his drawings is necessary to obtain a renewal experience by the spectator. Enhanced by its composition of thousands tiny strokes, executed in graphite and graphite powder, which emphasizes the visual density of the image. 
Before drawing, he always proceeds as follow: the selected photographic print is projected in a much larger size than it’s original. The enlarged image causes a deviation, which adds an elusive, spectral quality to the image. This large-size projection Manigaud starts to draw continuing for days, avoiding his own shadow while standing in the light of the projector. His almost obsessive drawing practice intertwines a mystical and narrative element to the work. As for the artist, drawings are a more intense version of the realistic properties of his archive and trying to reveal it’s invisibility. 

Eric Manigaud lives and work in Saint-Etienne, France. The work of the artist is presented in museums such as: Musée d’Art Moderne (Fr), Museum of Art (Korea), Museum Dr. Guislain (Bel), Musée d’Histoire du XXième Siècle (Fr), The Royal Albert Memorial Museum (UK). His drawings are also included in many private-collections from all over the world.