Thursday, December 15, 2022

Interview with Artist Jean Michel Nicollet

Interview with Artist Jean Michel Nicollet
VICE France, November 2019
Among the most memorable pieces to appear in Metal Hurlant and Heavy Metal during the late 1970s and early 1980s were those from the French artist Jean Michel Nicollet (b. 1944). 

Sadly, a book compiling Nicollet's artwork for French paperback publishers such as Neo, his work for magazines, and studio art pieces, remains to be published.

In November of 2019 the French version of the VICE website published an interview with Nicollet, conducted by FĂ©lix Macherez. The interview was done in French, but the Google Translate English version is quite comprehensible. It offers some interesting insights into the founding days of Metal Hurlant and the scope and scale of Nicollet's work for paperback publishers (for example, he made over 400 drawings, and 200 covers, for NEO). Well worth reading !

2 comments:

Maldoror said...

He is great!

fred said...

I finally looked at the translated interview, very interesting, thanks for finding it. Heavy Metal magazine isn't directly mentioned, but I really enjoyed the (translated) quote: "For example, I remember a cover in which I staged a female robot who smashed the face of a male robot with a large adjustable wrench." A clear description of the first Heavy Metal Magazine cover from April 1977. I did also enjoy "The Abracax Effect" from HM March 1978.

thanks