An article in CL

Here is the article written by Richard TALLET for la Charente Libre and published on the 5th January 2007 (I tried to do my best to translate it... as always, please, forgive my bad english..) Photo de RT “Ville Usine”, a dark comics for an independant and politicaly engaged author PieR Gajewski, author from Angouleme, has just released Ville Usine, a newspaper look-a-like comics, pamphlet against the multinationals, published by la CGT. PieR Gajewski wanted to mix the genres. Mixing reality and fiction in order to bring more realism to his new comics. «Ville Usine» has been published at 500 copies. It looks like a local newspaper. But, it’s a comics, totally unconventionnal, about a topic he especially likes, the multinational compagnies. Devoted altermondialist militant, he inflicts his reflection on outsourcing and on industrial profits on the 16th A3 pages of his art piece. The heading : “Metal World : The factory of all the profits”. Articles are covering the first 2 pages. They describe the factory, its omnipotetence in the city. Then comes the narration in images. Black and white. A dark drawing, whithout any hope, like the story. No balloons. Few sound effects. And, bursting a stormed sky, the big boss such a giant trampling the city. Back to text, with one signed by the CGT, partnair of the project. It’s that trade union which enabled him to produce this work. It has been seduced by the young Angouleme’s author topic. “A pamphlet against the multinationals’, he insists. In his imaginary town (Ville Usine), the factory is everywhere, from school till the library. So, its shutting brings much more consequences than enemployement. PieR Gajewski define his work as a “graphical poem. I’m working on mass confrontation”. Hulking blacks on whites. His reference : Art Spiegelman, the Maus author. To make his graphical composition, PieR Gajewski explains that he always think with double pages, for the rythm, the panel disposition. “ It’s an independant work in the espressionist mouvement”. Voluntarily, he didn’t want to locate the city or the country. “The aim is to be able to touch anybody in the world, in France like anywhere else”. An exhibition for the festival He already export his talents out of France, notably in a slovenian periodic, Warburger. He arrived in Charente 10 years ago, graduated from the Fine-Art school before being for 2 years resident in the Maison des Auteurs (Authors House). Today, he’s working on a comics album which he keeps secret. Obviously Ville Usine will be present at the next comics festival of Angoulême. The CGT gives to his disposal its local for an exhibition of his Comics newspaper. “ The exhibition is called BRUT, it’s also sponsored by le conseil général and Choco Creed”., there will also be 5 canvas of 2 meters on 1; and four of them will make a frieze of 8 meters long. Some are directely extracted of his comics. Ville Usine, 5€, published by la CGT, orders are available at villeusine@hotmail.com a blog also exists: www.villeusine.canalblog.com