Art Meets Adventure in Louis Vuitton’s Travel Books
With the spirit of travel an integral part of the Louis Vuitton DNA, the French fashion house has always worked closely with renowned and promising artists on its iconic and highly-coveted travel guides. Past years saw the collaboration with the likes of Jean-Philippe Delhomme, Liu Xiaodong, and Brecht Evens.
For 2017, Louis Vuitton takes a trip to Mexico City, Hawaii, and Tokyo through the eyes and fresh perspectives of three new artists. Get to know them below:
Nicolas de Crécy – Mexico City
Creativity runs in French artist Nicolas de Crécy’s blood; his brothers Geoffroy and Hervé are a graphic designer and animator, respectively. He has earned acclaim with graphic novels including Foligatto — a bleak and grotesque 19th century fable about a castrato — Le Bibendum Céleste and Léon la Came — a bitingly satirical tale of three generations of a cosmetics dynasty.
De Crécy was also art director of the award-winning animated short film, La Vieille Dame et les Pigeons. Celebrated for the poetic yet sinister qualities of his work, he was named artist-in-residence of Kyoto’s Villa Kujoyama in 2008.
Esad Ribic – Hawaii
Hailing from the world of superhero comics, Croatian-born artist Esad Ribic is primarily known for his work with Marvel. Following the collapse of the state-run animation studio he was employed at during the 90s, Ribic broke into the American comic industry by contributing to Dark Horse titles such as Grendel and Star Trek.
Since making the jump to Marvel in 2010 Ribic has drawn everyone from the Silver Surfer to Thor and the X-Men. As both a penciller and inker — relatively uncommon in mainstream comics — Ribic’s painterly aesthetic has made him a popular cover artist, in addition to his interior work.
eBoy – Tokyo
eBoy is a “pixel art collective” formed by Kai Vermehr, Steffen Sauerteig, and Svend Smital in 1997. Taking consumerism and pop culture as their major sources of inspiration, the trio call some of the biggest names in the world clients, including Coca-Cola, Adidas, MTV, Amazon, L’Oreal, Nike and Levi’s.
Considered the godfathers of 8-bit art, the relationship eBoy’s members share with technology is key to their wonder-filled and utopic vision: Sauerteig and Smital grew up in East Germany before the re-unification, and were only exposed to the technicolour worlds of western entertainment and products in their 20s, while a restless young Vermehr, who was born in Germany but grew up in Guatemala, saw technology as an escape and a gateway to the wider world.
Louis Vuitton Travel Books ($86 each) are now available at the Louis Vuitton Island Maison at Marina Bay Sands, Ngee Ann City and ION Orchard.
