ARTI’VIEW by ARCHES® Antoine Savolainen, an artist who blends tradition and digital technology
Antoine Savolainen is a daring artist, illustrator and designer deeply inspired by nature and the symbols it conveys. His works reveal a singular aesthetic that combines charcoal drawing, pastels, acrylic painting and digital creation. He describes his art as popular and emotional.
Antoine Savolainen has received several prestigious international awards such as the American Design Awards, European Design Awards, PRINT Awards and Deutsche Telekon Art Prize.
What techniques do you use?
I combine traditional and digital techniques. I start by doing all the drawing work in charcoal, pastel or acrylic, then I switch to a graphics tablet. I then create materials and textures and paint on the screen with various brushes. Lastly, I print on watercolour paper. In partnership with ARCHES®, we developed a specific profile to preserve the full lustre, saturation and precision of my work. The first tests weren’t conclusive, but after going back and forth several times with ARCHES® and the Didier Jordan printing studio, we were able to define a process that allows my work on paper to be rendered as art prints.
In a few words, how would you describe your art?
I describe my work as popular. Popular doesn’t mean low-end or ‘DIY’ paintings. I fully subscribe to the tradition of art (or ‘arts’) aimed at the people, as was the case until the end of the 19th century or even the beginning of the 20th.
From the first half of the 20th century, art then explored various avenues, sometimes for the better, but also for the worse. I’m still extremely angry about Duchamp’s urinal, because I consider it was what opened Pandora’s box. And what can I say about Maurizio Cattelan’s banana, which sold for $6.2 million in New York in 2024?
This is an arrogant and elitist milieu that’s taking itself seriously, when in reality it’s just a bad joke that’s doing art a lot of harm.
Some artists today are lacking true know-how. They’ve failed to develop an eye for beauty, technical mastery and a unique but discerning vision. Only an improbable intellectual approach prevails, and I believe that such an approach is far from sufficient. I know that my vision can sometimes be seen as fundamentalist or narrow-minded, but I make no apology for it. And I know that other artists and audiences are also making it their own.
I therefore try to provide the people who look at my works with ‘work that is both visual and emotional’ – in terms of the colours, proportions and technical aspects – to spark an emotion that I hope is immediate at first and then diffuses different levels of analysis and understanding. I don’t know if I succeed, but in any case that’s what I’m aiming for.
What are the subjects that inspire you?
My current series, ANAMORPHÉES, is animal-based. My subjects are therefore nature and symbolic animals (the raven, a messenger between worlds in Norse mythology – I’m half Finnish – the last male northern white rhinoceros that died in 2018, which I see as the last unicorn, the nocturnal sentinel, the last mountain gorillas, etc.).
In your opinion, who is the greatest artist of all time? Why?
That’s a very difficult question because I admire so many different artists from different eras and with different styles. But if I had to choose just one, I’d say Michelangelo.
Tell us about a decisive moment in your career as an artist
Adding on to my previous answer, it was Michelangelo who ultimately shaped my love of art, through his attention to detail and his vision that went far beyond the conventions of his time and the past, while still being able to speak to everyone. Look at his statue of David and how David had always been represented up to then. From a frail little boy, Michelangelo turn him into the symbol of little Florence facing the enemy of the time, i.e. great Rome. From a puny little being, David became a living colossus ready to go up against Goliath. We get the impression that he’s breathing and that blood is flowing through his veins. I have memories of spending sleepless nights drawing him over and over, from different angles, when I was seven or eight years old.
What was your first experience of ARCHES® paper?
I first discovered ARCHES® paper many years ago, when I was studying visual art at the age of 20 or so. Like all my classmates, I already saw ARCHES® paper as being truly exceptional. I later used different surface textures and weights of it for my watercolours. For my current work, I absolutely wanted to have a thick cotton paper, with 4 deckle edges. I naturally turned to your paper and a weight of 640 g, which I use with a hot or cold pressed texture, depending on the subject. As previously mentioned, I had to challenge your teams to achieve an effect in the printing process that would correspond to the production of your paper, with its watercolour-like characteristics, and my work which involves a digital step. I also absolutely wanted the feel of the paper to be sensual, almost carnal. The result now exceeds my expectations.
ARCHES® Aquarelle 640 gsm sheet of paper, watermarked with deckle edges.
ARCHES® paper in one word?
Carnal.
Tell us about the ANAMORPHÉES exhibition.
Here I’m going to honour the description written by the gallery owners who are exhibiting my work, by using their words, but I’ll start by defining the word ‘anamorphosis’, which was the starting point for my reflection on this series:
Anamorphosis: noun, a perspective technique that distorts an image so that it appears normal only when viewed from a particular angle.
“In a digital world where there are endless processes for reproducing images, combining traditional and digital techniques, the artist provides us with a highly personal, fantasised artistic vision. The works thus created are all personal variations on the same imagination. Here we find an approach similar to the Pop Art series, where artists such as Andy Warhol took ownership of the process of screen-printing to transform it into a new artistic process. Between distorted reality and dream-like freedom, Antoine Savolainen offers delicate and powerfully spiritual animal-based series, loaded with symbolism. ANAMORPHÉES, variations on dreams”.
© Antoine Savolainen – The Crown, series #1 #2 #3 #5, 56 x 76 cm, mixed technique, art prints, 10 copies on ARCHES® Aquarelle 640 gsm paper
© Antoine Savolainen – The Dream Keeper, series #1, 56 x 76 cm, mixed technique, art prints, 10 copies on ARCHES® Aquarelle 640 gsm paper
© Antoine Savolainen – The Dream Keeper, series #2, 56 x 76 cm, mixed technique, art prints, 10 copies on ARCHES® Aquarelle 640 gsm paper
© Antoine Savolainen – The Dream Keeper, series #3, 56 x 76 cm, mixed technique, art prints, 10 copies on ARCHES® Aquarelle 640 gsm paper
© Antoine Savolainen – The Dream Keeper, series #4, 56 x 76 cm, mixed technique, art prints, 10 copies on ARCHES® Aquarelle 640 gsm paper
© Antoine Savolainen – The Dream Keeper, series #5, 56 x 76 cm, mixed technique, art prints, 10 copies on ARCHES® Aquarelle 640 gsm paper
Do you have any other projects on the go or planned?
Yes, I have several. I’m going to start working on larger formats. For the time being, I’m working on 56 x 76 cm formats. I plan to switch to 75 x 105 cm and also 100 x 150 cm. My ANAMORPHÉES series isn’t finished and I’ll therefore be using these new formats in the coming weeks. At the end of the year, I’ll also be releasing a new and different series.
As for exhibiting them, discussions are under way with several galleries to display my future work. So I’m very busy at present but I’m quite happy with the current situation and the outlook for the future.
Current exhibitions
Breitenmoser gallery, Geneva – Switzerland
www.breitenmoser.art
Le Carré 76 gallery, Divonne-les-Bains – France
www.instagram.com/carre_76
