from left to right, Gino Diomaiuto, Ianna Andréadis, Diane Soumilas, Dean Bowen in the Studio
1999 marks the twenty-first anniversary of the Atelier Bordas, established in Paris in 1978 by Franck Bordas, grandson of the acclaimed French Master Printer, Fernand Mourlot. In these two decades, Bordas has developed an international reputation as one of France’s leading printers working collaboratively with major European and international artists such as Gilles Aillaud, Pierre Alechinsky, James Brown, Jean-Charles Blais, Jean Dubuffet, Mark di Suvero and Keith Haring. The Atelier specialises in lithography (stone and plate) and also produces relief prints (linocuts and woodcuts), sometimes combining these printing techniques to include monotype and collage.
Franck Bordas’ passion for lithography is apparent when you first enter his Atelier via the historic Passage du Cheval Blanc near Place de la Bastille. The Atelier is a vast industrial space with one corner stacked with old lithographic stones of all sizes, printing inks, a myriad of tools, plates, archival papers, plan cabinets, and three rare nineteenth-century presses, including the historic Voirin capable of printing large format lithographs (120x160 cm). the Atelier’ gallery space exhibits recently printed editions and rare works from the Bordas archive.
Bordas’ technical expertise in, enthusiasm for and sensivity to the process of lithography and the extraordinary ambience of the Atelier are all factors that have attracted artists of different generations and from diverse cultural backgrounds. He has created an environment wich encourages a multi-faceted dialogue and close rapport between the printer and artist. Bordas sees the opportunity for artistic collaboration in the unique relationship that develops between artist and printer during the creation of a series of lithographs; Different musical analogies have been used to describe this intuitive relationship and the crucial role of the printer. This concept of collaboration is best described by Bordas: “The Atelier is like an orchestra with a conductor and musicians. The aim is to find the right sound and then play”.
Between 1974 and 1977 bordas copleted a printing apprenticeship in the Atelier of his grandfather Fernand Mourlot (1895-1988) in Paris, participating in the production of a series of lithographs by Joan Miro in 1977. Mourlot collaborated with many of the most significant artists of the twentieth-century including Braque, Matisse, Picasso, Léger, Chagall, and Miro, reviving the interest in colour lithography after the Second World War. He developed a particulary dynamic and creative collaborative relationship with Picasso, who was renowned for his experimentation with lithography in the mid 1940s and early 1950s, producing many important prints.
Bordas was exposed to this rich tradition of collaborative printing from a young age, and gained invaluable experience in offset lithography at Mourlot’s Atelier. However, he soon developed an interest in producing limited editions of lithographs from stone. With his in mind, he purchased an old hand-press and in 1978, opened his first Atelier with his brother Hervé, in rue des Guillemites in the Marais quartier. During the first years of the Atelier’s operation he attracted a group of important contemporary artists such as Gérard Garouste and Daniel Pommereulle with whom he collaborated to make small lithographic edition by hand.
After a brief period in temporary premises in Montmartre in 1981, Bordas launched a new Atelier and Gallery in 1982 in rue Princesse, Saint-Germain-Des-Prés, with his brother and father whose publishing business was next door. The early 1980s witneessed a significant resurgence in interest in contemporary art in France, encouraged by Mitterrand’s Socialist Government wich came into power during this time. Increasing demands of the marketplace led to a proliferation of contemporary prints.
In 1982 Mourlot introduced Bordas to Jean Dubuffet, one of the most important post-war figurative artists in Europe, who was passionate about lithography and renowned for his experimentation with the many possibilities of producing texture on a lithographic plate. Dubuffet was encouraged by Bordas to make lithographs again after a twenty-year break from this medium. This led to a successful collaboration with dubuffet and the creation of his last series of colour lithographs Exercices Lithographiques (1982-84) published by the Atelier Bordas and exhibited at the Foundation Dubuffet, Paris.
An exciting period of collaboration commenced in 1984 with a young generation of French artists including François Boisrond and Hervé Di Rosa. Exponents of the Figuration Libre movement, their work was inspired by aspects of contemporary urban culture, employing the narrative structures of comic strips or imagery from mass media. Stimulated by the creative environment of the Atelier bordas’ expertise, these artists have produced an innovative body of prints over a number of years.
Bordas initiated a significant collaborative relationship with leading contemporary French artist Jean-Charles Blais in 1985. Over more than a decade, an important body of experimental lithographs by Blais have emerged from the presses of the Atelier Bordas, concentrating on multiple printing and reworking the stone to produce a number of different states and variants. Blais views printmaking as an extension of his painting in order to produce complex, densely printed black and white lithographs and has fully exploited Bordas’ skills and talent as a printer. Blais’ recent work continues his investigation of the varied possibilities of expressing the human figure and shadow, combining bold forms and sensuous surfaces.
Since enstablishing his Atelier in the Passage du Cheval Blanc in 1988, Bordas has printed many lithographs in collaboration with numerous international artists including Iannis Kounellis, Joan Mitchell, Roberto Matta, Antoni Tapies, Ianna Andreadis, Jan Voss and Australians Dean Bowen and William Robinson.
His ability to collaborate successfully with major American sculptors and painters such as Mark di Suvero and James Brown has resulted in production of some of their most challenging work in the lithographic medium. Since 1989, Bordas has formed a close long-term collaborative relationship with James Brown, printing and publishing an extensive series of stone lithographs, monotypes, collages and artists’ books including The Happy Prince (1993), The Mannerist Notes (1993-1994), Natural History (1995) and more recently Disappeared and reappered. Brown’s multi-feceted printed oeuvre reveals associations with natural, botanical and cultural worlds, and the exploration of a range of texture and colour on printed surfaces.
Bordas recently extended his printing and publishing activities to include the creation of the Paquebot series of artist’ books. During the first half of the twentieth century, the French “livre d’artiste” became a signifiant part of many european artist’s oeuvre, often produced in collaboration with major publishers such as Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, Iliazd, Tériade, Skira and Maeght. A number of different approaches to bookmaking emerged in Paris at this time, revealing innovations in typography, book design and a lively collaboration between artists, writers, poets, printers and publishers. The Paquebot collection has evolved from this rich and varied twentieth-century genre of French artsits’ books.
The Paquebot or cargo-boat series formally explores the concept of an artist’s sketch book, an intimate visual diary or travel journal, and reflects Bordas’ innovative approach to book design and publishing. Each artist’s visual notes, obesrvation or travel experiences are recorded in these volumes. The removal of a beige linen covered silpcase reveals a collection of up to fifty original lithographs or woodcuts, small and intimate in format, printed on Fabriano paper, with text by the artist. A lively dialogue exists between the images in a book and the combination of letterpress and handwritten printed text. Each volume has drawings embossed in different colours on the front and back covers and the title embossed on the spine. The Paquebot books have a tactile and sculptural quality, the format designed to resemble the shape of a small lithographic stone. The edition size is limited to 125 signed and numbered copies. There are currently seventeen books in the Paquebot series.
In a career spanning just over two decades, Franck Bordas has emerged as one of Europe’s most exceptional and exiting printers, renowned for technical innovations in lithography and his significant contribution to the status of collaborative printing internationally.
Diane Soumilas, June 1999,
texte écrit à l’occasion de l’exposition de l’Atelier Franck Bordas à l’Australian Galleries de Melbourne, 1999
Atelier Bordas in Melbourne,
by Diane Soumilas, 1999
