Greg Léon Guillemin

Grégoire Guillemin, aka “Léon", started out by working at a French communications agency, before deciding to recreate his childhood heroes using digital techniques and new media . Born in 1968, his artwork is heavily inspired by popular culture.

From 1930's vintage to modern day Pop art, Léon plays around with key characters from the imaginary worlds of comics, video games and science-fiction. He starts by creating visuals on the computer before putting acrylic paint to canvas.

Léon doesn't see himself as an artist, more as an “Eclectic Graphical Gamer", as it's the graphics and characters that have come to define his pieces. These days he is seen as one of the leading actors in the "Geek Art" movement in the new technologies and medias universe. This ever-changing movement covers computing, gaming and science-fiction.

Using minimalistic art techniques, his pieces place comic heroes in everyday contexts. His series showing “The Secret Life of Heroes" achieved notoriety and made him an extremely popular figure across the Geek Art universe. We see Superman shaving, Mickey Mouse smoking and Spiderman eating a burger. The colours are bright and unmistakeably Pop. The artwork is humourous, slightly racy and completely captivates the audience as they discover a new side to their most beloved childhood heroes.

By using close-ups, it's complete voyeurism. We see Catwoman, a lolly in the mouth, fighting for attention next to Wonder Woman, who's swallowing a banana that is taking up the whole of the foreground. Léon overrides societal norms and childhood heroes take an adult twist, making them timeless classics once again.