Born in 1987
Lives and works in Paris, France
• DRAWING
Graduated from École des Beaux-Arts de Paris
Exhibited between France & Japan and part of several Art Book Fairs since 2010
+ Books selected for Revelation Artist’s Book Award (MAD - ADAGP) | 2019 & 2022
+ Published by Editions Matière since 2016 and Quintal Editions since 2022
+ Books available at Centre Pompidou (Paris), Yvon Lambert (Paris), Agnès B (Paris), Librairie du Palais de Tokyo (Paris),
Galerie Arts Factory (Paris), Printed Matter (NYC), Taco-ché (Tokyo) & more
• MUSIC
as Lex (de Kalhex)
Producer of critically acclaimed instrumental albums since 2011 and close to Nujabes' entourage.
Co-founder of Akromégalie Records (2008) and 1/3 of French hip hop group Kalhex
+ Collaborations includes Grap Luva & Rob-O (from Pete Rock’s INI), Shing02, Uyama Hiroto, Dday One, Mathematik (Down ta Erf) & Substantial
+ Releases w/ HHV, Radio Juicy, Menace, Hip-Dozer
+ Represented in Japan by Takumi Koizumi (Hydeout Productions’ ex-manager) on Rockwell Product Shop label
Regularly touring in Japan & Europe since 2013
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— Ellis Tree for It’s Nice That (2024) :
Alex Besikian combines digital and analogue techniques to depict abstract shapes he finds in our everyday landscapes. The Paris-based artist’s graphic artworks are a mishmash of digital colours, drawings on paper, and collages of textures he finds in old photographs.
“We usually tend to recognise familiar forms in abstract shapes, but it’s the opposite that interests me,” says artist Alex Besikian. “I use existing pictures to create new compositions, as a collage, directly through drawing,” he explains. Predominantly using graphite or coloured pencils, his traditional tools create fluid, colourful shapes and reflections that move across each other. The artist isn’t all analogue though, Alex tells us his computer is “a precious tool for combining different printing textures like Riso scans, adding screen-tones or composing drawings based on photographs.”
Although born and raised in Paris, the artist has a special affinity with Japan. As a place he has travelled to regularly since 2014, the country is still the main source of inspiration for his creative work from its architecture to design and music. “I’m fond of the Japanese post-war pop artists such as Tadanori Yokoo, Keiichi Tanaami of course and definitely the masters Kiyoshi Awazu and Shigeo Fukuda,” Alex shares. The artist is also influenced by David Hockney’s works from the 60s, the illustrations of Enzo and Iela Mari and Italian architect and Memphis icon Ettore Sottsass.
A large part of Alex’s practice is searching for ways to “translate digital compositions on to paper” which leads the artist to constantly question the notion of original or unique work.
“I like to blur the limits between what can be recognised and what can’t be, by playing with our visual memory or distorting pop culture references,” he shares. “I don’t copy or recreate the original material. It’s more about the details, outlines or backgrounds that lead me to create new shapes.” The artist’s subjects then are extrapolations from visual sources he finds “or that find me”, he says, (recently the 1964 Tokyo Olympics archives).
Making Riso prints and publications is one of the artist’s favourite ways to share his work. Whether self-published under his title Mudai Editions, or collaborating with Editions Matière and Quintal Atelier, Alex has created a number of tactile drawing books, in handmade small editions. If you are based in Paris you’ll be able to grab a copy of his works on paper at Yvon Lambert, Agnès B, Librairie du Palais de Tokyo, or Galerie Arts Factory.
< FRANCE >
========== Show ==========
Echo Chamber (SOLO), Cahier Central, Paris | 2024
WAAL 4, group show, Galerie Au Roi, Paris | 2024
Shadow Force (SOLO), Galerie My Monkey, Nancy | 2023
Beat Map (SOLO), Quintal Atelier, Paris | 2022
Mapping The Frame, w/ Véronique Augry, Galerie Episodique, Paris | 2022
Menk, group show CAC des Landes, Mont-de-Marsan | 2022
Caveat Emptor, duo w/ Alexandre Contesse, Guidoline, Rouen | 2022
Dialogue(s), group show, Galerie Épisodique, Paris | 2021
Osaka’70, group show, Galerie P38, Paris | 2020
Days Of Past Future, w/ Keiji Ito, Galerie P38, Paris | 2019
Flatland, group show, Galerie P38, Paris | 2017
Sur le chemin..., group show, Galerie Episodique, Paris | 2015
Insurrections, Nuit Blanche, Paris | 2014
Biennale du Dessin, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris | 2014
Drawing Now, group performance, Musée du Louvre, Paris | 2013
Lignes de Chance, group show, Fondation d’Entreprise Ricard, Paris | 2010
========== Art Book Fair ==========
Offprint, Pavillon de l’Arsenal, Paris | 2023
Paris Ass Book Fair, Palais de Tokyo, Paris | 2023
MAD - Multiple Art Days, Selected for Revelation Artist's Book Award - ADAGP, Paris | 2019 & 2022
Accident(s), Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris | 2022
Offprint, with Batt Coop, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts, Paris | 2017
Festival International de la BD, w/ Editions Matière, Angoulême | 2017
Fanzines! – Le Salon, w/ Editions Matière, Parc de la Villette, Paris | 2016
< JAPAN >
========== Show ==========
Pink, group show, Center/Edo Gallery, Tokyo | 2024
Zencho (SOLO), Center/Edo Gallery, Tokyo | 2023
Natural Screen (SOLO), Tetoka Gallery, Tokyo | 2023
Reader’s Digest, w/ Shingo Minamida, POL Gallery, Osaka | 2023
Reader’s Digest, w/ Shingo Minamida, Center Sanuki, Takamatsu | 2023
Typography, group show, Tetoka Gallery, Tokyo | 2020
Systems / システム (SOLO), Tetoka Gallery, Tokyo | 2018
Drawing performance w/ Keiji Ito, Solfa-Nakameguro, Tokyo | 2018
========== Art Book Fair ==========
Tokyo Art Book Fair, Museum Of Contemporary Art, Tokyo | 2023
Here Is Zine, Cultuart - Beams Harajuku, Tokyo | 2019
Tokyo Art Book Fair - Ginza Edition / Selected for Zine Mate corner, Ginza Sony Park, Tokyo | 2019
< WORLD >
========== New York ==========
Printing the Future: The Riso Revolution, dieFirma, New York | 2022
Printed Matter’s New York Art Book Fair, w/ Batt Coop, MoMA PS1 | 2019
Périphérie, group show, 321 & 323 Canal Street | 2019
========== Milan ==========
Sprint Festival, w/ Batt Coop, O’ | 2017
< GRANT / SCHOLARSHIP >
2021
Studio H13, Lyon
Residency to make ‘Crystal Silence’ book
CNAP (Centre National des Arts Plastiques), Soutien exceptionnel aux artistes
2017
CNAP (Centre National des Arts Plastiques), Soutien exceptionnel aux artistes
2015
Mobil'Access, Institut Européen de Recherche et Formation,
3 weeks of research in Japan (Osaka / Tokyo)
2011
Erasmus, Atelier H. Schimansky, Weissensee Kunsthoschule, Berlin
//////////////////////////// FORMATION ////////////////////////////
2012-2013
École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts, Post-diplôme, Paris
2007- 2012
École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts, D.N.S.A.P, Paris
2006-2007
Ecole Estienne, MANMA option Gravure, Paris