OCTOBER 21^st, 2023 - From France! PIERRE VAQUEZ will be here at Mission Gallery for the first time on Saturday, October 21^st. His mezzotints are brilliant - a little dark, a little sinister, a little sweet – perfect for Halloween month! He’ll be bringing one of his mezzotint plates to print from all afternoon. This event is free and open to the public. Email missiongallery@mindspring.com for details.

Pierre Vaquez was born in 1963 in the east of France (near Belgium). Forty years later, he discovered printmaking in a municipal workshop in Paris. As a book and image lover, this was a revelation to him.

Six months after this first contact, his first experience of the mezzotint was going to lead the rest of his life as an artist.

In 2005, Pierre exhibited for the first time about fifteen prints in a bookshop in Paris. In November of the same year, one of his mezzotints was awarded at the biennale Ink and Paper Saint-Mandé. After a break of 6 years, he came back to the rocker and since that time, has participated in many exhibitions in France and abroad.

Now Pierre devotes all of his time to mezzotint. He has a printmaking studio in Brittany and is also a member of a collective workshop near Paris (L’Atelier aux Lilas pour la Typographie et L’Estampe).

In September 2017, “Aspergus and me”, a children’s book by Didier Levy was published by Sarbacane - illustrated by Pierre’s mezzotints. This book won the «Prix Landerneau 2018», a children’s book award in France. In 2019, He made a new book with the same writer : « Le Train fantôme », illustrated by mezzotints again.