The exhibition traces Christian Lacroix’s career as an artist from the mid-1950s onwards, through a collection of previously unseen drawings on loan from the ‘Archives et Patrimoine Monsieur Christian Lacroix’ association, which has recently set up in Arles. This rich collection, which aims to further research into Christian Lacroix’s work, includes childhood sketches, fashion drawings, stage costume designs, illustrations for books and magazines, and more. The diversity of the media preserved (hotel notebooks, opened envelopes, Post-it notes, canvases, ceramic objects) and the techniques experimented with (pencil, felt-tip pen, ink, gouache, acrylic, digital tools, collage) bear witness to Christian Lacroix’s constant and intimate practice of drawing.
The exhibition offers an immersive journey into the heart of the artist’s work. Often annotated, drawn on both sides or enhanced with a collage, each sheet embodies a thought in perpetual motion and captures the moment when an idea takes shape. The exhibition creates connections between different periods – from primary school to his art history studies, from his early forays into fashion to his rise to prominence in haute couture in the 1980s, right through to his most recent projects – and juxtaposes drawings whose style is often highly recognisable, or, conversely, quite surprising.
The largest exhibition ever organised around his graphic work, ‘Drawings, Scribbles and Graffiti’ immerses visitors in the rich and eclectic repertoire of Christian Lacroix’s creative output.
