So this was pure magic.
A few years ago I came across Pascal Croci's books, and fell in love almost instantly. Auschwitz, Gloriande de Thémines, Anorexie, Tchernobyl… at first it was the images that pulled me in. Those haunted, delicate faces, the fragile, tense bodies, that gothic, slightly feverish atmosphere... Then the storytelling took over. These strange, intimate, uncompromising narratives that don't look or read like anyone else's. I was well and truly hooked.
Of course I tried to find out more, upcoming books, festival appearances, exhibitions, any clue about how one might someday get hold of an original drawing. But it quickly became clear that he's… let's say, particularly difficult to track down [try it and you'll find out why]. And for a few years, I had no luck at all.
Last month, in a half-desperate attempt to shake a very bleak mood, I decided to go to the Geneva Book Fair. Getting lost in piles of books is after-all an excellent way to disconnect from reality… and of course it hadn't escaped me that there would be a fairly substantial BD section.
So I walk in, find my way to the BD area… and the first thing I see: at the Paquet booth, sitting quietly and sketching, is Pascal Croci.
Honestly, it is one of the best feelings in the world when the person whose mind you admire so much—whose images and words can absolutely hypnotise you—turns out, in person, to be utterly lovely. We talked, he drew, I floated. And now, miraculously, I actually have a way of reaching him… which means, yes, more of his work is about to appear on my walls….<3 <3 <3
