Here is an interview with Léo Quievreux. His graphic style is witty, personal and elegant.
May be some of you will take the opportunity of this interview to approach his work:
Léo’s website
"A: Can you tell me more about Gotoproduction? Where can we find the books?
L: Gotoproduction started as a small editorial which was realized in collaboration with two friends of mine. Between 1991 and 2000, we published about 60 books (illustrations, texts, comix). Most of them were photocopied (we were very careful in choosing the quality of the paper, the cover, etc…) while others were realized using a printer (to make more copies). One of our motivations was to make known authors like Pierre Francon or
Anne-Laure Draisey, whose work we very much appreciate. Although Gotoproduction has ceased its activity, some copies might still be available in the excellent bookshops « Un Regard Moderne » or « La Comète de Carthage » in Paris.
A: I first discovered your work in 'En costume' (edition chacal puant) and I loved those three pages… What were the circumstances when working with Olive and Blanquet?
L: Well… This is an old story. It was a short contribution.
A: You have published a lot with "
Le dernier cri"…
L: Indeed, the collaboration with this publisher has been constant for the last 10 years, which gave me the opportunity to meet many authors from all over the world and also persons working in the publishing business (notably people of Strapazin –Switzerland). I also discovered the screen-printing (I’ve often involved in the printing process of my books in Marseille); I find it very interesting...
A: There are many characters in Sàg… Do you make use of stereotypes or is it rather a fictionalization of real people?
L: Some of them were inspired by memories from my childhood or adolescence in Alsace (a region in France)…For instance, my grandfather used to take me to the shooting gallery (in Sàg n°1, the "author" of the bullet holes in that target is me!) I keep precious memories of these moments as well as the image of my grandfather's colleagues at the shooting sessions: an universe marked by strong influences from the right-wing politics and « a cowboyish way of things ». Schmitt and Vogel are eloquent examples of characters inspired by these memories. However, there is certainly a lot of fantasy and playing with imagination in this story (and some more bucolic memories!)
A : What is the meaning of the three-letter word "Sàg"?
L: “Sàg” means “Legend” in Alsatian.
A: Loads of crooks are present in your comix; You must be very keen on dark novels and gangster movies, I assume... Am I right?
L: Absolutely!
A: Is it true that "La mue" represents your first collaboration with a scriptwriter?
L: I had worked with Jean-Kristau before (he's an old friend of Gotoproduction) but if we refer to « La Mue » (with Tanguy Ferrand), this is the first collaboration indeed, taking into account that we are talking about a « non-confidential » publication.
A: How much freedom did you allow yourself while working on this comix?
A: Do you have any projects in the works that you can share with us?
L: Yes, I am working on a book with "Le Dernier Cri"- 130 pages in black and white (which will be released in 2009). I am also preparing a new comix collaboration with Tanguy, and of course my own comix projects.
There are some other things as well, you will be able to find more details on
my website…
The following drawings will be part of the book which Leo is planning on making with
Le Dernier Cri:
I just had a great idea for an image. A hot air balloon shooting at a giant floating octopus type creature. And a small array of weird octo creatures flying around it, possibly with bat wings and little hats. This is going to be a digital collage and have an awesome starry sky background. I think the focal point will be the bright explosion from the hot air balloon against the night sky as it shoots a cannon at the octopus. I can't wait to have the time to work on this, which is going to be way too long from now.
That's what it looks like on my computer. I quite like the way it increases the weight...
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