Alban

Born in Nantes, France, in 1967, Paris-based artist Alban le Luel (known as Alban) combines Pop Art motifs with mixed media to create colourful industrial paintings thatmimic the surface of airplanes.

Alban’s aviation art uses wood, plaster, paint and resin to recreate ageing chunks of aircraft metal as his canvas. Through this material sleight of hand, Alban’s art demonstrates an innovative and critical approach to military nostalgia. You can find Alban’s art for sale on Rise Art.

Alban’s Art Education and Career

Alban grew up next to an airport in Africa, developing a fascination for industrial aviation and machinery. The artist returned to France to study art, receiving a BA in Advertising and Graphic Design and an MA in Animation from the Ecole des Gobelins Art School. Alban then worked as a set designer for 12 years.

Alban’s aesthetic was influenced by working in the film industry, which encouraged his pursuit of mixed media art. The artist’s practical background in set design has a clear influence on his handcrafted airplane canvases. Alban’s historical aircraft art is now known throughout Europe and the US, with frequent exhibitions in London and Paris.

Alban’s Nose Art Style

Alban draws inspiration from the industrial age and from the decorative quality of machinery. The artist is influenced by nose art – graphic Pop Art designs painted onto the fuselage of an aircraft, most famously during World War II through to the 1950s. Alban’s wartime airplane art becomes both a memory and reinvention of the past.

Alban’s nose art alludes to the passing of time and cultural performances of masculinity. In Yellow (2022), Alban integrates a distorted pin-up character with a yellow target – combining Pop and military aesthetics. Alban expertly recreates the effect of weathered metal surfaces. Through these 'authentic fakes', Alban’s military nose art prompts the viewer to question the reality of their own nostalgia, as well as preconceived ideas about our attraction towards vintage objects.