Cover of “L’es imagier des gens,” image courtesy of Grain Edit
Born Bernard Granger in 1966, Blexbolex is an award-winning French illustrator working out of Berlin. After graduating from the Ecole de Beaux Arts d’Angoulême in 1984 with a concentration in screenprinting, Blexbolex worked and self-published his comics until garnering more attention in the early 2000s. In 2008, he received the Goldene Letter at the Leipzeiger Buchmasse—the Liepzeig book fair—for Best Book Design in the World for his book L’imagier des gens. English versions of Blexbolex’s work is available exclusively through UK publisher Nobrow, an independent publisher and press for art and design books.
From “L’es imagier des gens,” image courtesy of Grain Edit
From “L’es imagier des gens,” image courtesy of Grain Edit
Blexbolex’s work is inspired by the style of ligne claire—or clear line, originated by Hergé’s lauded work The Adventures of Tintin—comics, whodunit mysteries, and film noir. The clean, unfettered illustrations make Blexbolex’s often dark, torrid subject matter seem all the more potent and beautiful. Inspiration from associative graphic design processes helps keep the work stripped down, but powerful enough to inspire meaning in the reader. His books Abecederia and Dog Crime evoke this marriage of style and subject. Both grapple with the murky, emotional waters of film noir story lines, as well as the brutality of crime, criminals, and those who oppose them—all in three-spot color.
From “Abecederia,” image courtesy of Nobrow Press
Inside cover of “Dog Crime,” image courtesy of Nobrow Press
He also appears in the English edition of the infamous French cookbook I Know How to Cook by Ginette Mathiot. The crossover of Blexbolex’s patented illustrative work shows how effective ligne claire’s uniformity and simplicity can be in a medium that requires clarity.
From “I Know How to Cook” by Ginette Mathiot, image courtesy of Grain Edit
Blexbolex does not have a website. Visit his artist page at Nobrow Press for more information.
Thumbnail image of “Dog Crime” by Blexbolex courtesy of Nobrow Press.
