Yann Kebbi’s chaotic pencil drawings depict various forms of catastrophe

Date
18 August 2017

Using the idea of catastrophes and disasters as inspiration, illustrator Yann Kebbi has created a series of drawings that depict an array of surreal and invented calamities. The drawings were produced for La Galerie Matel as part of Drawing Now, the contemporary drawing fair held in Paris earlier this year and see the illustrator using coloured pencils, charcoal and carbon pencils.

A different pace to his etchings which we featured last October, Yann’s illustrations have a palpable energy and the textures, mark making and colours really emphasise this. “[The markings] are about giving life to the image, revealing its structure and the way it is drawn from beginning to end, not trying hide errors or construction marks,” he says. “It’s also about playing with the drawing in itself, variations of styles, ideas and intentions. Creating focus on some spots and having others less revealed, more sketchy.”

Yann’s images take us from sprawling scenes at an amusement park to darker moments where refuse collectors remove what looks like a body in a bin bag. As a viewer we accept the contrasts between these louder moments to the more sombre instances, because of Yann’s consistency in tone. “I think the idea of catastrophe, be it natural or of human cause, is very present lately, but in a way it always has been,” says Yann. Through this series and his work as a whole, the illustrator hopes to communicate a “love of drawing, the power of the line, the urge and immediacy of a drawing, and the energy it can convey.”

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Yann Kebbi: Catastrophe

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Yann Kebbi: Catastrophe

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Yann Kebbi: Catastrophe

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Yann Kebbi: Catastrophe

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Yann Kebbi: Catastrophe

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About the Author

Rebecca Fulleylove

Rebecca Fulleylove is a freelance writer and editor specialising in art, design and culture. She is also senior writer at Creative Review, having previously worked at Elephant, Google Arts & Culture, and It’s Nice That.

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