WHISKY

Translated from the description from Cornelius Editions, originally in French -

"Immense plains, purple deserts and rocky mountains, the particular geography of the American West has long been a subject that inspires Western artists. From Sergio Leone to Mœbius, the image of this region has gradually been built in popular culture to become the place of adventure and freedom.

Bathed since childhood in this representation of a fantasized America, Hugues Micol delivers with Whiskey his own vision of the Wild West. Subtly mixing gouache and watercolor, from a stain on the sheet a mountain, a pebble or a silhouette is born little by little. This spontaneous method in the elaboration of the drawing echoes the allegory of the cowboy, a solitary man who roams a landscape, freeing himself from borders and laws.

After Providence – where the action took place each time in a room – Hugues Micol here abandons the partitioned spaces to explore an exterior rich in rockeries and canyons. It is thus part of the tradition of western art, a sub-genre of pictorial art that was very popular in the middle of the 20th century. However, this classicism is diverted here in favor of a more instinctive approach, offering the drawing a rendering close to Cubist works. This gentle melancholy of an era is symbolized by the figure of the cowboy, icon of a world that no longer exists, a kind of ghost crossing the immensity of the desert freed from all constraints."