Behind the scenes: Chef Gabi

Chef Gabi, Virgile Demo, Graphite and Felt-Tip Pen on Paper, 21 × 29.7cm, 2026

For the 5th birthday of his godson Gabi, Virgile made a special drawing for the occasion. As a fan of cooking, Gabi shows all the signs of becoming a great Chef, and Virgile wanted to encourage him in this direction.

We’re sharing with you the different steps of the drawing, to give you an idea of our creative process these days.

Virgile first proceeded to gutting a food brochure he’d found in the supermarket, selecting all the relevant elements he needed for his collage - à la Justine Kurland (a personal hero of ours, she made SCUMB, 150 collages from 150 photo books by male photographers, and then sent the result to each - great article about the project here).

Preparatory analog collage for Chef Gabi, Virgile Demo, Cut and Paste, Collage on Paper, 21 × 29.7 cm, 2026

Once the compositon was found, Virgile pasted the elements together and scanned the result. The face of Gabi the birthday boy was added digitally.

Finally, Virgile drew from the digitally-altered colllage, using felt-tip pens on mat paper. The result is an image with a matt finish, that highlights the ink writing on top.

The message reads in French:“Joyeux Anniversaire Chef Gabi! “= ‘Happy Birthday Chef Gabi!’.