Alban

Born in Nantes, France in 1967, Paris-based artist Alban takes Pop Art themes and motifs to create colourful and attention grabbing paintings. Easily mistaken as rusty old pieces of aircraft metal, each of Alban’s paintings have been constructed from wood, plaster, paint and resin. Alban invites the viewer to look closer, to form their own memories and sense of nostalgia. With work that appeals to the eyes and the imagination, Alban creates a new impression of a past reality.

Education and Career

Alban spent most of his childhood living in Africa before returning to France to study art. After receiving a BA in Advertising and Graphic Design and an MA in Animated Movies from the Ecole des Gobelins Art School, Alban worked as a set designer for 12 years. Working in the cinema industry has undoubtedly influenced the aesthetic of Alban’s work, and it was from this point that Alban became an established mixed media artist. Today Alban is known throughout Europe and the US, with frequent exhibitions in London and Paris.

Alban’s Style

Alban does not seek to replicate found materials, instead he draws inspiration from the industrial age and from the decorative quality of machinery. A master of reinterpretation, Alban is inspired by nose art and its association with war and ultimately the Pop Art movement in the 1950s. Whether reimagining old pin up characters or working with mixed media to give the illusion of time passing to his art, Alban works with a fairly limited palette to form art that invites a second look.