Astrid Chevallier

Astrid Chevallier
Born Falaise, France
Known for Painting, Graphic Arts, Photography, Illustration, Music.

Astrid Chevallier is a French Visual Artist and Musician.

Background

Born in Normandie, France, affichiste (literally "poster designer") Astrid Chevallier has been studying Fine Art in Paris, France, which led her to explore various medium such as drawing, painting, sculpting, photography, typography, calligraphy, advertising, and graphic design.

She refers to the painters Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt as her first strong influences.[1]

Graphic Design

Astrid started to freelance in advertising agencies as a Graphic Designer and Assistant Photographer, before being hired as an Art Director at Euro RSCG[2] where she learned the ropes of the branding and corporate design business.

A couple of years later, Astrid was offered a teaching position in a design school for adults in Paris, and at the same time left the corporate world to start designing under her own name. She soon got assignments from a wide range of clients such as financial Institutions, Corporations, Cities and Theaters. That lead her to design logos, brochures, annual reports and magazine layouts for the corporate world, as well as Posters - and collateral material - for Cities & Theaters.

She also worked on interactive medias, such as CD-Roms and experimental animations, explored early web HTML coding, and co-signed and produced a self-training CD-Rom about digital pictures treatment.

Astrid Chevallier developed a unique Poster design signature by mixing painted elements with photographs and textures, and by using typography as a graphic element. That style brought her notoriety and national press.

In 2002, Astrid Chevallier has been recruited and relocated to Los Angeles[3] to design movie posters for Seiniger Advertising, a very established pioneer advertising company in the movie business.

Things didn't work out as planned, but Astrid stayed in Los Angeles, signed with an agent, and freelanced in many advertising companies to perfect her knowledge of the craft of designing for the Entertainment Industry. Simultaneously, she started to operate as the creative director at Purple Red, a small design studio with an edge.

Bringing her European influences and her conceptual vision to the table, she has been creating movie posters for major Hollywood Studios (Universal Studios, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Bros.), award-winning independent film productions ("I'm Not There", "South of Pico", "Coco Before Chanel", "James Ellroy: American Dog"), TV series ("Camelot (TV series)", "Into the West (TV miniseries)", "Everwood"), as well as award-winning short films ("Cuco Gomez-Gomez is Dead!", "The Last Full Measure (film)", "Keeper of the Past"). Purple Red’s style stands out by bringing a conceptual or design twist that emphasizes the emotional aspect of the subject matter.

In March 2004, the University of Caen Lower Normandy set up a solo exhibition of more than 40 posters, for Cities, Theaters, and Hollywood; produced a video interview of the artist along with a CD-Rom and a catalog, and invited Astrid Chevallier to speak about her work at a public lecture.[4]

In April 2007, Astrid Chevallier has been invited to give a lecture about graphic design at The Art Institute of New York City.

"My goal is to emphasize an emotional aspect of the subject in a design" says Chevallier, "It allows a poster to grab your attention very quickly and to deliver a more profound idea when you hang it on your wall and take the time to really look at it."[5]

March 10, 2011, the solo exhibition "Affiches" presents 22 of her original posters at the HGCL Gallery in Downtown Los Angeles. The show has been relayed and supported by the French Embassy,[6] and TV5 Monde broadcast worldwide an interview with the Artist.[7] Upon the extension of the show, Art Critic Ed Fuentes writes about Astrid Chevallier's posters "They are a visual throwback to the non-tweeting social networking days when posters initiated interest and conversation. (...) Most are delicious examples of how emotional typography mixed with illustrative imagery have not only have a place in film promotion, but in an art gallery."[8]

Painting

Astrid Chevallier has been painting since her Fine Art School years,[9] and her style slowly transitioned from figurative to abstract. Her work has been displayed in galleries in France, Amsterdam, and Los Angeles[10] where she also did live painting performances.[11]

Music

Astrid Chevallier has been studying classical music since the age of 6, and later on switched to rock blues and punk while jamming with her fellow art school students.

In June 2006 she released a solo album "So Far, My Love",[12] which she wrote, composed, recorded and produced. It's been reviewed as "an eclectic collection of fourteen experimental-, ambient- and pop-style tracks (...) The artist's interests emerge in the sound effects of "Bug" and incantations in "Pluie," both highly experimental numbers that will delight some listeners but not others. (...) Clearly Astrid Chevallier is a very talented multi-dimensional musical artist."[13] "This is an odd but complex and wonderful release."[14]

The main title "Running Away"(music produced by Peruvian Frágil's lead singer Santino de la Torre; music video by French filmmaker Fanny Jean-Noël) has been featured on YouTube, while Astrid was going on tour and started to publish videos of live performances online.[15]

Movies

Astrid Chevallier has also been credited as a still photographer on many movie sets.[16]

Her credits include feature films such as "Strike One" with Danny Trejo, award-winning "South of Pico" by Ernst Gossner, and documentary about "James Ellroy: American Dog" by Kuperberg French filmmakers family.

References

  1. ↑ "Art(Ifs)Acts - Expo 5 - Astrid Chevallier". University of Caen. April 2004. Retrieved December 3, 2008.
  2. ↑ "Astrid Chevallier". LinkedIn. February 2012.
  3. ↑ "Astrid Chevallier, A Touch Of European Flavor To Hollywood". Immigrant Magazine. September 22, 2009.
  4. ↑ "Astrid Chevallier". University of Caen, Art(ifs)Acts. March 2004.
  5. ↑ "Graphic Artist Astrid Chevallier Introduces the Profession of "Affichiste"". News Blaze. June 2, 2009.
  6. ↑ "Affiches by Astrid Chevallier, Reception Art Walk". French Cultural services. April 2011.
  7. ↑ "Astrid Chevallier on Movie Poster Design". TV5 Monde, Rendez-vous d'Amérique!. April 2011. Retrieved September 22, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Art Walk Preview for April 2011". blogdowntown. April 13, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Astrid Chevallier, A Touch Of Paint / School". Astrid Chevallier (.com). current. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ↑ ""Goldissime" paintings by Astrid Chevallier.". French Cultural Services. December 2011.
  11. ↑ "CREATE:FIXATE - LA's most anticipated art event is back!!". Upcoming Events and Things to do. December 4, 2004.
  12. ↑ "iTunes Preview: So Far My Love by Astrid Chevallier". iTunes. July 26, 2006.
  13. ↑ "So Far My Love (Astrid Chevallier (USA) 837101197786, 2006)". Musical Discoveries, contemporary, progressive and crossover female vocalists. December 30, 2007.
  14. ↑ "Album Review: So Far My Love by Astrid Chevallier". Collected Sounds. December 17, 2007.
  15. ↑ "Astrid Chevallier Music". YouTube. current. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ↑ "Astrid Chevallier (I)". Internet Movie Database. current. Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links