Biography of Beno Varaillon

Benoît Varaillon (portrait copyright Thierry Causera), known as Béno, was born in Montauban in 1978. He lives and works near Bordeaux. He is a French artist-craftsman-engraver who blends the traditional and the modern; he make prints in the mokuhanga technique. 
Since 2013, Béno has been practicing polychrome woodcutting using Japanese processes: engraving several matrices (each corresponding to one or two colors), using water-diluted inks, and hand-printing with a baren (a Japanese tool that is rubbed against the printing sheet).
Today, the artist is one of a very small number of artists practicing these techniques, which he perfected in 2017 with a Japanese engraver and printer, responding to an invitation from a Japanese TV channel whose producers had noticed his talent.
Most often working on commission, in 2014 (for the Château des Ducs de Bretagne) he produced a print for the "Samouraï" exhibition, an experience repeated in 2016 and 2017 for the Icône and Chushingura exhibitions. For the book "La gravure sur bois en Bretagne (1850-2000)" by Philippe Le Sturm (Ed. Coop Breizh, 2018), Béno created an engraving of the Ile vierge (or Pointe de Saint Hernot) located between Morgat and Cap de la Chèvre on the Crozon peninsula (Finistère); this kind of tribute to Henri Rivière (1864-1951), one of the leading figures of Japonism and of the woodcut revival, was conceived from photographs taken by the artist during a hike on the GR 34 (summer 2017) and Indian ink drawings.
Always underpinned by projects that reconcile experimentation and innovation, Benoît Varaillon's creative project, shaped by his background and passion for Japanese art, is rooted in both traditional craftsmanship and the freshness of contemporary graphic design; his creative approach is conceived from an intention, a utopia, that carries meaning and commits him to producing prints. The artist's aim is both to perpetuate the ties that unite French and Japanese cultures and to propagate a new vision. Beyond this, he is determined to touch people's hearts, and those of new generations, and to lead them into the contemplation of a sensitive, delicate and bewitching world. Familiar with the transmission of knowledge, the practice of teaching - as applied arts teacher - helps him to structure and enhance his creative work. Béno, it should be pointed out, makes most of his own tools (how complex is the traditional manufacture of a baren from bamboo?), produces prints in series and single proofs (often variations, in the manner of Stanley William Hayter's technique of simultaneous color), mastering glossing (shomenzuri), embossing (karazuri), gradient (bokashi) or the application of mica powder (kirazuri) or gold leaf. Béno's work follows in the footsteps of Henri Rivière (1864-1951), who was the first to discover the secrets of Japanese printers at the Paris World's Fair in 1899.He follows in the tradition of French "japoniste" artists who produced prints using the traditional method, and likes to cite Henri Rivière, Auguste Lepère (1849-1918) as precursors, followed by Amédée Joyau (1872-1913), Jules Chadel (1870-1941), Adolphe Beaufrère (1876-1960), Prosper-Alphonse Isaac (1858- 1924) and Géo-Fourrier (1898-1966), over a 40-year period. Be sure to check out his website, where the artist offers a series of high-quality videos demonstrating the techniques used.