Atelier Mutel

About

DIDIER MUTEL has been producing artists’ books and engravings since 1989. Born in 1971, he entered the Ecole Estienne at 15, then studied at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, and continued his studies at the l’Atelier National de Création Typographique à l’Imprimerie Nationale. From 1997 to 1999, Didier Mutel was in residence at the Villa Medici in Rome where he produced two collaborative books. In 2008, the Atelier Georges Leblanc closed, and Pierre Lallier transfered a significant portion of the historical equipment to Didier Mutel. In 2009, Didier Mutel purchased a space in Orchamps in the Jura, where he reinstalled the workshop. Since 2003 Mutel has been teaching at the Institut Supérieur des Beaux Arts of Besançon and is regularly invited by American universities for presentations and special courses. In 2013 Didier Mutel received the prestigious title of Maître d’art. Most recently, he was awarded the Prix Liliane Bettencourt pour l’Intelligence de la Main, a juried prize for “exceptional talent” that recognized his recent book, R217A (2016), as a work “resulting from a perfect mastery of techniques and savoir-faire of artistic craft” as well as demonstrating “innovation, and contributing to the evolution of this knowledge.” His most recent work includes La Pierre Rosette [The Rosetta Stone] (2015), the monumental The First Atlas of The United States Of Acid (2017), Sidereus Nuncius (2018), Melencholia (2021), The True Tales of Captain Acid (2022), and the ongoing series, The Birds of Acid (2019-).

ATELIER MUTEL traces its roots to 1793, making it is the oldest etching studio in France. From a historical and artistic point of view the studio represents centuries of knowledge and a very high level of handcraft production. The studio is well recognized in France and abroad for its highly specialized productions, which combine traditional techniques and contemporary innovations. Didier Mutel apprenticed to the studio in 1988, joining there his master Pierre Lallier who ran it from 1968 to 2008. The studio moved from Paris to the Jura and after 5 years of renovation its grand opening took place in 2014.

See Didier's recent talk at the Library of Congress: click here