Pénélope Bagieu — Illustrator
Pénélope talks to TheNextGag about her relationship with brands, her foray into acting, her next projects and … Tinder.
Pénélope Bagieu is a famous Illustrator from France.
She owns a blog where she illustrate stories about her life, she writes comics books and she has recently designed a collection for Nocibé.
THENEXTGAG: I KNOW THAT YOU HAVE DONE COLLABORATIONS WITH SOME BRANDS. WHAT IS YOUR FEELING ABOUT ARTISTS WORKING WITH BRANDS ?
PÉNÉLOPE BAGIEU: This is what I come from (I’m an illustrator for advertising) so I never really thought of it otherwise than as a job. Either it’s for a brand, a magazine, anything, you can always find a way to have fun illustrating something. I wouldn’t work for the NRA or anything I profoundly disagree with, but I enjoy the variety and change that illustration offers.
TNG: ONE OF YOUR TALKS ABOUT DISCRIMINATION IN ADVERTISING SPREAD WELL A FEW MONTHS AGO. DO YOU THINK IT WAS YOUR ROLE AS A RENOWNED ARTIST TO SPEAK UP ABOUT THIS ISSUE ?
PB: The context was very specific : It was an evening hosted by a strongly politically comitted theater in paris (Le Théâtre du Rond-Point) , organized in order to have many artists, actors, play-writers and musicians invited to show their support to our Minister of justice, Christiane Taubira after she was under racist attacks from french fascist press. We all had to prepare something to tell/show/sing to her (she was in the front row) to condemn that filthy racism she had been the victim of (being compared to an ape). So I thought of how I, a white girl working in the very white business of advertising, had encountered with racism in my job. And I remembered that time when one of my clients had specifically asked me to draw a white woman in an ad. So I thought it would be interesting to have a think about how advertising in France encourages these passive racist habits. That’s all there was to it, I had no big message, or any intent to spread a brand new idea, really.
TNG: ONE OF THE REASONS WE WANTED TO HAVE YOU FOR AN INTERVIEW WAS BECAUSE WE WERE BIG FANS OF THE OPERATION THAT YOU DID WITH ORANGE: MONBEAUSAPIN. CAN YOU TELL US WHAT WAS THE BACKGROUND BEHIND THE OPERATION AND HOW WELL IT WENT ?
PB: I wanted to do something to raise money for the Red Cross, and I was aware of the fact that Comic blogs in France generate huge traffic. So I thought “hey, let’s put ads on a dedicated blog, and all the money that would come from it would be donated to the red cross”, and asked comic artists to draw a little something everyday. It worked quite well, I think (I don’t remember that well, it was a while ago) but it raised something like 50 000 euros.
TNG: WE SAW THAT YOU ACTED IN A TV SERIES CALLED BREF. IS THAT A CAREER THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURSUE ?
PB: Of course not, it was just a funny thing that my friends (who created the the program) thought it would be nice to do. I’m a terrible actress.
TNG: CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING PROJECTS ?
PB: I’m working on a story that takes place in the folk music industry in the 60’s in New York, that should be published next year. And also, the english-version of “Exquisite Corpse” that will be released in the US next may (I’m thrilled !)
TNG: YOU HAVE BEEN AN EARLY ADOPTER OF SOCIAL MEDIA TO SHOWCASE YOUR WORK AND HAVE MANAGED TO GAIN A HUGE FOLLOWING ONLINE. IF YOU HAD TO START OVER TODAY, WHAT ARE THE TOOLS THAT YOU WOULD USE ? YOUTUBE ? KICKSTARTER ?
PB: Probably Tinder.
TNG: IT MIGHT BE AN ODD QUESTION, BUT DO YOU TAKE GREAT CARE IN CHOOSING YOUR WARDROBE WHEN YOU APPEAR ON THE MADMOIZELLE WEB VIDEOS ? YOUR FASHION STYLE SEEMS TO BE THE EPITOME OF THE PARISIAN GIRL.
PB: Well, thank you (I guess ? I take it as a compliment)
i don’t take particular care, well not more than any other day. I do care about choosing what I wear, I’m very coquette, but it depends a lot more on my mood of the day and the music I’ve been listening to in my bathroom in the morning, than on what I have to do during the day !
TNG: DO YOU THINK THAT YOUR DRAWINGS COULD APPEAL TO A MORE GLOBAL AUDIENCE (MEANING, NOT JUST FRENCH READERS) ?
PB: Well, “Josephine” is being published in Japan in a few weeks, and I’m going on a promotional tour there, so I keep my fingers crossed, and will keep you posted !
TNG: WE REALLY LOVED YOUR ILLUSTRATION ABOUT YOUR TRAVELS, ESPECIALLY THE ICELAND AND ARGENTINA ONE. COULD THAT BECOME PART OF A BIGGER PROJECT ?
PB: I do make travel guides (actual travel guides, like proper books) for Gallimard in France, with places I like and things I love to eat, in London and in NY, and would love to make more of them. But as for my travelling reports on my blog, I really want that to remain a blog entry, and nothing more. It’s more like my diary. I’m very happy when people tell me it has inspired them and made them go here and there. That’s enough for me.
TNG: IF YOU HAD TO CHOOSE ONE DRAWING TO INTRODUCE YOURSELF TO SOMEONE WHO DOESN’T KNOW YOU, WHICH ONE WOULD YOU PICK ?
PB: That’s a tough one !
Maybe this (an illustration for french ELLE, but which oddly looks a lot like things happening to me) :
TNG: HAVE A GREAT DAY PENELOPE.
PB: I will most certainly do. Thank you Michael !
Pénélope Bagieu
Illustrator
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