Philippe Weisbecker, on drawing the essence of things and his architectural world

French artist Philippe Weisbecker has been exploring form, structure and object for several decades now, producing delicate artworks on subjects ranging from American trucks and Japanese water tanks to landmark buildings around the world.

Themes evolve over days, months and years, inspired by a constant desire to ‘do everything and show everything’, says Weisbecker. But whether they depict a bright orange skip or a series of complex structural beams, somehow, all manage to be simple yet insightful, capturing what is often missed out as we go about our daily lives.

Unsurprisingly, they have acquired quite a following – from New York, where Weisbecker moved in his 20s and became a sought-after illustrator for prestigious publications such as The New Yorker, to Japan, where he took part in an artist-in-residence program at Kyoto’s Villa Kujoyama and has collaborated with brands including Muji.

Combining drawings and architectural studies, his ‘Architectures’ series is now the subject of a new exhibition at Paris’ Yvon Lambert Gallery, a space designed in 2017 by Dominique Perrault for gallerists Yvon Lambert and his daughter Ève Lambert.

With ‘Architectures’, on show until 1 March, Weisbecker offers a unique perspective on the built environment, condensing complex structures into almost elemental forms to create beautiful drawings in his unique graphic language. Combining new works and earlier pieces, the result is ‘a celebration of what remains when we strip things of all that is superfluous,’ as the gallerists put it.

‘We have had the pleasure of collaborating with Philippe Weisbecker for over ten years,’ says Ève Lambert. ‘We are particularly sensitive to his work and to his deeply poetic perspective. Through his delicate approach, he brings a true sense of nobility to the everyday objects he depicts, and invites us to look anew at the world around us.’

If at first Weisbecker sought to faithfully reproduce the buildings that inspired him, he soon realised that what really interested him was ‘the skeleton of buildings, their structures, the vectors of force that organise them’. Hence a large drawing of Notre-Dame de Paris, showing the lesser-known back of the cathedral, and its semi-circle of graceful flying buttresses.

The drawing features on the exhibition’s poster and is the latest of a series depicting Parisian landmarks. 'Since our first collaboration with Philippe, we have produced posters for each of his exhibitions,’ explains Ève. ‘This body of work traces a journey through Paris: after the Cirque d’Hiver for the exhibition Élémentaires in 2018, Place des Vosges in 2020, and the Carreau du Temple in 2023, Notre-Dame was an obvious choice to illustrate the poster for Architectures.’

Other drawings show the Fulton Houses housing project in Manhattan, and various factories and warehouses – a particular favourite of the artist. ‘For someone like me, who enjoys drawing minimalism, it’s a subject of choice,’ says Weisbecker. ‘When I look at a warehouse, I like to ask myself what might be inside.”

Also featured in the exhibition are artworks inspired by electrical cabinets and vessels. The À ras-bord (‘to the brim’) series shows dark vessels in subtly different shapes, highlighting the beauty of the neck of a pot. ‘I’m drawn to emptiness and fullness, to black and white,’ explains Weisbecker. ‘In both, the mystery remains intact.’

yvon-lambert.com