Yves Derai: After graduating top of your class from art school, you began your career as an illustrator in the luxury sector.

François Avril: Luxury brands very quickly began to call on me. For John Lobb, for example, I did the store openings. I drew for the brand's press kit and publications. For Chanel Joaillerie, I illustrated the book. I really enjoyed it because the world of luxury respects your work.

Yves Derai: Why did you decide to stop then?

F.A.: It happened gradually. When I started exhibiting my work twenty-five years ago, I told myself that I had to stop taking commissions. An illustrator can go out of fashion, whereas an artist who has succeeded in establishing their own unique style will endure. Once I reached a certain age, I realised how much time I had left to build my body of work.

Yves Derai: How does one become an artist when one is an illustrator? How does it feel?

F.A.: When I tackle a subject, I don't think about anyone else, I'm not influenced by anyone, not even artists I admire. I've developed my own style, I have a recognisable signature. For example, the exhibition I'm preparing on Brussels will be about my vision of the city, not a guide to Brussels. I don't look at it through the eyes of a tourist.

Yves Derai: What do you mean?

F.A.: For me, Brussels is first and foremost the neighbourhood I visit every day, Boulevard Maurice Lemonnier, the route from Gare du Midi to Place Fontainas, the flea market. I like to draw the towers, the construction sites, the cranes... The lines are straight. My cities are calm, with little or no human presence, no cars. It reassures me, it's soothing. I find nature more difficult.

Yves Derai: Noise and people are also reassuring. Silence can be anxiety-inducing...

F.A.: When you're young, you like loud music, crowds, movement. Today, I appreciate contemplation. I can stand still facing the horizon for hours. Because I'm more serene.

Yves Derai: When humans appear in your paintings, they seem very small. Is that a conscious choice?

F.A.: Yes, of course. They are shown at their true scale. On the other hand, I am fascinated by the buildings of New York or Tokyo. I also sometimes include elements that don't exist in real life but add something to the work. I'd like to work with an architect one day and design a building together. Some architects even say to me, ‘I'd like to draw like you.’

Yves Derai: You remain very close to the world of comics, which you have been involved with for a long time. You have even collaborated with one of the masters of contemporary comics, Philippe Druillet. How did that come about?

F.A.: I met him at parties and exhibition openings a good ten years ago. We hit it off. I learned to appreciate his world, which is the opposite of mine. His panels often contain a multitude of elements, movement and fantasy, whereas mine are calm and refined.

Yves Derai: What brought you together?

F.A.: Lots of things. A sensitivity, Brittany, the objects we collect. In drawing, we share the same notion of space. Above all, we experienced a genuine friendship at first sight, which made collaboration possible.

Yves Derai: Did he accept right away?

F.A.: Not at all. He even refused for years. One day, I bought one of his drawings and completed it without his consent! Then I showed him the result. It was the best way to prove to him that our two worlds could be complementary.

Yves Derai: How did he react?

F.A.: Surprised. He had hardly ever drawn with four hands. He said to me, ‘Aren't you embarrassed?’ But in fact, he liked the result and said, ‘OK, let's do it!’ We each drew on our own side. I did the layouts, he followed up, leaving me a little space, and I finished it off. We produced 25 works for the Apocalypses exhibition, gouaches and drawings that were shown at the Barbier Gallery in Paris's 9th arrondissement in 2020. It worked very well.

Yves Derai: Do you no longer do comics today?

F.A.: No, but my work is still influenced by them. My black line comes from there. I have a cartoonist's style of painting. I came to painting through large formats.

Yves Derai: What exactly do you appreciate about painting compared to comic book drawings?

F.A.: When you draw at your table, you're prostrate, your eyes fixed on the page. When you paint large canvases, you're in motion, standing up, you become one with the work. Furthermore, comics require a daily discipline that no longer suits me. Finally, I have a freedom in my painting that I didn't have in comics, where I had to illustrate a theme or a script. It was more restrictive.

Yves Derai: Is painting a superior art form to comics?

F.A.: I don't know... In any case, getting comics recognised as an art form in their own right has been very complicated. My gallery, Huberty & Breyne, fought long and hard to achieve this. It created illustrator/painter pairs for exhibitions of a new kind. People like Druillet, Manara, Bilal, Peter Klasen and Velickovic took part. This conversation demonstrated that comics were a contemporary art form in their own right. Alain Huberty was also the first gallery owner to bring comics to Brafa, the major contemporary art fair in Brussels. He had to fight hard to gain recognition from a microcosm that had long mocked illustrators. ‘They think they're artists,’ they said ironically.

Yves Derai: Are there any models who have inspired your career?

F.A.: Hopper, without a doubt, who was also an illustrator. But I don't belong to any artistic movement.

Yves Derai: How would you define your style?

F.A.: Less is more. I'm into minimalism. But I still find it hard to call myself an artist. I usually say I'm a draughtsman. There's a lot of humility in the comic book world.

Yves Derai: How do you work in this studio?

F.A.: Generally, I work on 12 to 15 canvases at a time, moving from one to the next. If you stay on a single canvas, you go mad and end up destroying it.

Yves Derai: Does your gallery owner influence your work?

F.A.: You can't say that. He never sees anything before the exhibition. I have more confidence in myself than in him; to each his own. If I sell a canvas quickly and well, a dealer will ask me to do more or less the same thing again. I'm not interested in that.

Yves Derai: Do you start from photographs or do you set up your easel in the street?

F.A.: Neither. I'm wary of photographs that offer too many elements. I prefer to rely on my memory, which retains the essentials. In painting, it's always more difficult to take away than to add.

Article written by Yves Derai, to be found in volume 7 of Oniriq Magazine

Translated by Bethszabee Garner