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Jean-Michel Folon

My drawings may look like comics, but they are not designed to make people laugh.

Brussels is honouring the Belgian artist Jean-Michel Folon and celebrating the 90th anniversary of his birth with a series of events and exhibitions. A native of Brussels, Folon left Belgium when he was 21 and very quickly gained international recognition. Between February and September 2024, three Brussels museums and the Fondation Folon are offering an opportunity to rediscover the many aspects of this artist, designer, illustrator, painter, poet and sculptor who, eschewing the dominant artistic conventions, excelled in many different techniques. https://www.folon.brussels

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Bio

Jean-Michel Folon was born in Brussels on 1 March 1934 and grew up in Belgium. At the age of 20, he began a course in industrial design at the La Cambre School of Art and then, in 1955, moved to the outskirts of Paris, where he lived for a number of years in a gardener's lodge. The French press was slow to recognise his talents, but the big American magazines, such as Horizon, Esquire, The New Yorker, Fortune and Time, gave him the opportunity to create front covers and many stunning editions. This was his first step on the road to success. It was not long before museums and galleries the world over were welcoming him with open arms – New York, Chicago, Milan, Venice, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Barcelona, Tokyo… Including illustrations, etchings, paintings and sculptures, his art developed in many different directions. He illustrated works by major writers including Kafka, H. G. Wells, Prévert, Vian, Borges, Bradbury… He created monumental murals, stained glass windows, tapestries, theatre and opera sets, and sculptures.

In October 2000, Jean-Michel Folon opened a museum of his work at the heart of the Solvay Regional Estate in La Hulpe. He created the museum tour and scenography himself. As a non-profit foundation, the Fondation Folon studies, conserves and promotes the unique artistic legacy bequeathed by the artist and continues Folon’s campaigns for human rights and nature conservation. Visitors can now view most of his work in this environment which held happy childhood memories for him.

Folon died on 20 October 2005, at the age of 71.