Fawzi, photographed by Francis Sellier, and his self-portrait.
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“We wanted to show drawings that were part of his personal delirium. »
This was the wish of Laure Chassel, the artist’s widow, and her son, Victor. They selected 80 gems from the mountain of works stored in their house in Saint-Cybard. “We wanted to show drawings that were part of his personal delirium,” explains Victor Chassel. These are his conscious daydreams carried out between two orders. » There is science fiction and watercolor, pencil drawings and light lines, a few plates from an unfinished comic book about his childhood in Algeria… “Fawzi was an outstanding designer. I have rarely seen someone who drew so well,” assures Dominique Brechoteau, former president of the BD Festival.
From Algiers to Angoulême via New York
The exhibition looks back on his story: his birth in Morocco, his life between Paris and Algiers, his American years… Known for his press drawings and his caricatures, Fawzi also collaborated with Marvel, developed a passion for science -fiction. “There are certainly things that he left behind in New York or in his travels that we may never see,” slips Victor, his “number 1 fan.”
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Local pencil stroke.
“He arrived in Angoulême for the fame of the comic book capital,” explains Bernard Lambert, his friend from Atelier Sanzot. It was about twenty years ago. “Then we did everything we could to make sure he stayed. He was a real mercenary when it came to producing a commissioned album,” adds the man who accompanied him to a Medef convention. “Although we know it well, comics are rather left-wing. He had drawn live during this very, very serious event. » What he says about the man: “He is adorable, humanly brilliant. » Always in the present tense.
A new published album
The Angoumois publishing house Le Troisième Homme released a new album by Fawzi this Thursday, “La Madone des Codes-Barres”. This is an original creation, dating from 2016, drawn directly in a small notebook and reproduced almost identically in an Italian format (17×11 cm). On sale for €10 at Cosmopolite and at the BD Museum bookstore. Order possible from the publisher: [email protected]
