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Founded in 2020, Philippe Labaune Gallery focuses on graphic design by featuring high-level artists whose common point is to explore new territories and to decompartmentalize the borders separating various modes of expression: illustration, painting, comic strips and animation.
In this interview, Philippe talks in-depth about his lifelong passion for narrative art and how he came to start his gallery after a long career in the finance industry, in addition to the different ways that comic art has been perceived in Europe compared to the United States, and why those perceptions are now changing.
TV5Monde Voyage
May 6, 2023
TV5Monde: François Avril's United States Debut Exhibition "Vertical Silence"
François Avril's segment on TV5Monde Voyage highlighting his solo exhibition and first presentation with the gallery.
"Meeting François Avril in New York makes sense. New York, its clean lines and buildings stretched towards the azure, fits perfectly with Avril's work, landscapes with clean lines and buildings all aiming at the sky. The French graphic designer, cartoonist, painter of imagined cities where time and noise seem to fade, exhibits at the Philippe Labaune Gallery on 24th Street, in the heart of Manhattan."
C’est la première fois que François Avril est exposé à New York, mais la ville lui est familière. « D’abord parce que c’est une ville et que j’adore les villes, confie-t-il. Peut-être parce que je suis né à Paris, mais il y a quelque chose de rassurant pour moi, bien posé, droit… ». Et New York, en particulier, a souvent été source d’inspiration, notamment depuis sa première visite en 1990. « J’y suis venu après le décès d’un ami et ça a été un vrai choc visuel; la ville m’avait redonné l’envie de vivre après ce moment difficile ».
New York - “Ogni volto guardo questi disegni non riesco a staccare gli occhi. Lui riesce a raccontare tutto in così poco spazio, e tutto torna, in modo perfetto”. Philippe Labaune freme, allunga e ritrae di continuo la mano destra con cui indica i dettagli. È il suo modo psicologico di interagire con le opere di Guido Crepax come se ormai ne facesse parte, lui stesso sorpreso, ogni volta, dalla profondità di quel tratto.
The “problem” with all gallery exhibits is they have short start and finish dates, which is exactly how the dealers get the art lovers to buy the art they love before it disappears into the mist or to another gallery out of reach. The only “problem” with the Philippe Labaune Gallery in New York City is that Wit & Wisdom, an exhibition of paintings by Canadian artist Anita Kunz, is only open through March 7.
Chaque année, Louis Vuitton et le groupe LVMH sélectionne un ou une artiste pour voyager dans un pays afin de croquer des instants de vie, de paysages et de faune. Problème, pour le Travel Book de 2021, la pandémie empêchait les voyages. Le dessinateur François Schuiten et l’écrivain Sylvain Tesson sont alors partis se promener sur Mars. Les dessins originaux, jamais exposés pour le moment, s’exporte à New-York dans la galerie Philippe Labaune.
In this interview, Philippe Labaune talks in-depth about his lifelong passion for narrative art and how he came to start his gallery after a long career in the finance industry.
“When you take a comic artist away from strips and the editorial limitations on storytelling, rhythm, and pleasing the publisher, and instead let them craft the narrative to their unique vision, that is where the magic happens.”
The Jerusalem Post
June 2, 2022
Exhibit By Comic Book Artist Rutu Modan Drew Visitors In The Big Apple
Israeli illustrator and comic book artist Rutu Modan had a show of her works at the Philippe Labaune Gallery in New York City earlier this spring, in a joint show with French artists Elizabeth Columba and Catherine Meurisse. The exhibition showcased different projects by the three women artists with different cultures and backgrounds. It was a collaboration between the Israeli cultural office in New York, the French Consulate and the Philippe Labaune Gallery.
A quite unusual gallery opened a year ago in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. At the end of West 24th Street, almost opposite Gagosian, the nerve center of New York’s contemporary art market, the Philippe Labaune Gallery has chosen to represent an immensely successful sector in Europe, but which has remained almost untapped in the United States: comic art.
Gotham To Go
April 14, 2022
Nicolas de Crécy: Ruthless Portrait To Open At Philippe Labaune Gallery In Chelsea
Philippe Labaune Gallery will open its doors to Ruthless Portrait, an exhibition of paintings and drawings by French artist Nicolas de Crécy. The Paris based artist offers, through his various portraits, his singular vision of human beauty removed from the common standards of advertising aesthetics. These are the faces of the street that no one would notice, faces without apparent beauty, sometimes damaged by life, often hollowed out by age, sublime or sad, yet always mesmerizing once interpreted by Crécy.
Philippe Labaune spent 25 years working as a wealth manager before opeening a gallery in Chelsea during the pandemic. He specializes in comic-art illustrators, a booming market in Europe which is paradoxically underdeveloped in the land of Marvel.
This is a first in the USA for Catherine Meurisse, a first in exhibitions and sales for Rutu Modan and a first in “comic-art” for Elizabeth Colomba. A crowd of curious and true amateurs were surprised by their works, original boards, illustrations or drawings made especially for the event. With some well-known professionals at Actuabd.com.
La journée internationale des droits des femmes qui a lieu le 8 mars nous permet de revenir vers un autre marqueur des changements au sein du 9e art. Outre-atlantique, trois autrices s’établissent sur le marché de l’art. Les œuvres de Rutu Modan, Catherine Meurisse et Elizabeth Colomba, font l’objet d’une exposition collective, “Three continents”.
NEW YORK. ”3 continents”: the exhibition pays tribute to three comic strip authors who honor their country of origin in their work. Elizabeth Colomba, Catherine Meurisse and Rutu Modan represent New York, Paris and Tel Aviv respectively. Cosmopolitan cities that inspire in abundance the abundant pool of artists.
“3 continents” : l’exposition rend hommage à trois autrices de bande dessinées qui mettent à l’honneur leur pays d’origine dans leur travail. Elizabeth Colomba, Catherine Meurisse et Rutu Modan représentent respectivement New York, Paris, Tel Aviv. Des villes cosmopolites inspirant à foison l’abondant vivier d’artistes.
artron.net
February 3, 2022
现场｜菲利普拉鲍内画廊: 艺术家洛伦佐马托蒂的“私密房间” Live | Philippe Labaune Gallery: Artist Lorenzo Mattotti “Stanze Intime”
从2021年11月18日至2022年2月26日, 曼哈顿切尔西区的菲利普拉鲍内画廊正展示一位来自巴黎的意大利裔艺术家洛伦佐马托蒂在美国的首个个展.
From November 18, 2021 to February 26, 2022, Philippe Labaune Gallery in Chelsea, Manhattan is hosting the first American solo show of the Paris-based Italian artist Lorenzo Mattotti.
Gaetano “Tanino” Liberatore loves drawing and sex. Beginning with a frenzy at the age of five, while running a fever and in a spell, Liberatore claims to have made some 500 drawings within the course of a day. Just a few years later, he was obsessively drawing from movie magazines; stripping the stars and pumping up their breasts.
In collaboration with the Philippe Labaune Gallery, the Society of Illustrators presents a Zoom Q&A event with artist Dave McKean and guest moderator Bill Kartalopoulos as they discuss McKean’s multidisciplinary approach in creating his graphic novel Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash and the upcoming release of his latest graphic novel Raptor: A Sokul Graphic Novel, published by Dark Horse.
Akira has been in the news a lot in the past few years, thanks in part to the live-action film that was originally set to be helmed by Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi and the shocking announcement that a new animated series was in the works that would follow the manga source material closely, and now, the legendary anime franchise will be hitting a new art exhibit in New York City. With the exhibit already landing in the Big Apple, anime fans can have the opportunity to relive what is considered by many to be the greatest anime movie.
Fine Art Globe
April 7, 2021
Phillipe Labaune Gallery Launches - Chelsea Gallerist To Showcase His Passion For Comics & Illustration
Philippe Labaune, a comics collector and expert, staged his first show, Line and Frame: A Survey of European Comic Art, last year at the Danese/Corey Gallery in Chelsea. The gallery has since closed but the show went so well Labaune decided to start his own gallery...
WHAT: Good for Health – Bad for Education: A Tribute to Otomo
WHERE: Philippe Labaune Gallery, 534 West 24th St.
WHEN: April 8 – May 8, 2021
If the Angoulême International Comics Festival is any indication, comic art in Europe, especially France, is having a moment. Last year’s festival drew record crowds and a cameo from French president Emmanuel Macron, and celebrated a surge of political reporting in the form of bandes dessinées, or comics.
Philippe Labaune Gallery inaugural exhibition, Good for Health – Bad for Education: A Tribute to Otomo will showcase illustrations by 30 international artists in homage to Japanese artist Katsuhiro Otomo’s seminal 1982 manga series: “Akira.” Featuring a selection of new work, the exhibition builds upon the 2016 tribute curated by Julien Brugeas at the Angoulême Festival hosted by France’s Ministry of Culture and Galerie Glénat, which honoured Otomo’s distinct aesthetic contribution to the genre. A Tribute to Otomo will be on view from April 8th – May 8th, 2021, with an opening on April 8th from 11AM to 9PM.
Created almost a century ago by the Belgian artist George Remi, better known as “Hergé,” Tintin’s adventures have taken the intrepid boy reporter and his companions from the jungles of South America to the surface of the moon and back -- all without ever appearing to be on deadline or even file a story. But these comics are more than just children’s stories: for many Europeans, where comics have long been considered fine art, Hergé’s work is foundational to the medium. Now, a pair of his original pages are on display at Gallery Danese/Corey in Manhattan, the first time they have been shown in the U.S.
After 27 years working in finance in New York, Frenchman Philippe Labaune has reconnected with his biggest passion, comic books. He is curating the first European comics exhibition in America at the Danese/Corey gallery from February 28 through March 14.
With its roots being traced centuries, comic art took the world by storm during the 20th century. Its culture began developing on three major soils on a global scale, the United States, Western Europe and Japan, first as a lowbrow form and then as a proper art form at the advent of the new millennium. It has been long considered to be fine art, especially among European enthusiasts, a sentiment that is quickly gaining traction in the United States.
Forbes
February 15, 2020
4 Factors Behind American Collectors’ Growing Interest In Original Comic Art
Heritage Auction’s Comics & Comic Art Department saw a record-setting $79,332,770 in sales across 2019, a massive $20 million leap up from 2018 ( which was itself a record-setting year). The auction house’s single most expensive sale ever, a $5.4 million artwork sold in May 2019, was by one of the bigger names in American comics art, sci-fi and fantasy artist Frank Frazetta.