Apartment number 23, located in a narrow alley in Achrafieh, is where a bizarre talent flows. Even before entering, you get a sense of who Benoit Debbane is. Painter and illustrator, Debbane, can be heard making his way to the black wooden glazed door of his home and studio. Hung over the entrance to his home, as though watching over this artist’s haven, a miniature alien protrudes. On the left, an outsized Batman poster, in shades of dark grey and black; and on the right, another alien, this time printed on a poster. To the left of the door is a small sign printed in solid black letters, which reads, “Attention de Chat.” The ‘chat’ or cat in question is Pichou, Debbane’s four-year-old beloved pet. While some people, influenced by superstition, deem a black cat to be a sign of bad luck, Debbane thinks to the contrary. He claims that having a black cat is convenient, as he can spot it against all his white walls. With fur the shade of a dark night’s sky and piercing green eyes, Pichou has the undivided love and attention of his master. In fact this cat is the source of inspiration of much of Debbane’s work. “Cats inspire me,” he confides as he embraces his own.
The cat roamed around his apartment freely. Between the paintings lining the floors, and the hundreds of Batman, alien and Grendizer toys, Pichou dawdled. He watched, he listened. Pichou was almost human. Most interesting to note was Pichou’s interaction with Debbane himself. Most of the time, Pichou watched his owner who spoke animatedly. Other times, the cat was ostensibly disinterested by what was going on around him.
The loft was a sparse, empty area, save for the original bare-faced concrete construction columns. A sliding glass door divides Debbane’s office from the seating area, allowing the painter to move about freely. The kitchen and seating area were an open space – all well ordered yet chaotic. His favourite painting hung in the salon. ‘Broken Heart,’ although lacking a defined form or a series of colours, the painting was full of meaning. From the simple strokes in shades of grey, black and red, Debbane’s feelings were transferred to the onlooker. “It’s a red splash of colour on a white background. It is symbolic of suffering,” Debbane commented.
I made my way over an assortment of paint pots and stained brushes to find a seat. This room, which is his office, has three desks, each apparently for a different purpose. While Debbane positioned himself behind the desk that had the huge computer screen, it is interesting to note what the other desks had on them. One was lined with construction tools, another with intricate utensils for carving, with a couple of screwdrivers and a hammer. Behind Debbane hundreds of books rested on the wall-to-wall black steel-shelving units. The collection includes material on Japanese art, fashion, design, advertising and, of course, cats. Some of these books looked new and quite untouched, others had well-worn spines, apparently from overuse.
Debbane leaned back on his chair and glanced at me taking notes. “We haven’t even started yet,” he asserts. “But I have already got an impression of you,” I respond, reminding myself that I should not have formed an opinion so quickly, but with Debbane, you cannot but do so.
“I grew up in Gstaad, Switzerland,” he began. “My parents were professional skiers and I lived in a big mansion with lots of servants,” Debbane added in an animated genteel accent. He laughed, and teasingly corrected, “Where would you want me to grow up? My childhood was spent here in Beirut during the war.”
His artistic journey began decades ago. “I like street art. I used to be a graffiti artist when I was 16. Spray all over the place. That is how my interest for drawing and illustrations began. My journey started with a spray can. I would draw strange characters like demons and stuff like that.” That prompted me to ask if he had a troubled childhood. Debbane, digging into his alter ego, replied in his assumed accent, “No, I had a great childhood. I spent it chasing butterflies and playing with Lego, like every other kid. I used to dissect insects like normal children. I even stuffed my mom when I was twelve, she is in the basement now.”
Actually he studied architecture in Alba, a design school in Lebanon. Although his training was in a different field, the love for his current line of work came instinctively. “It’s something that I like to do, that’s all.”
His scope of work continued to grow and diversify from that point on. “I’m an illustrator, so I cover magazines and books, advertising, everything that needs to be printed. But now I’m focusing on my painting career. I like to paint pop art.”
Although his work is varied, Debbane’s inspirations are few in number. However, he confides that cats are top of the list. “They are so lovely,” he says as he turns to Pichou. “They have an appeal that you cannot resist. Look at him, habibi. Cats are sensual and give you less headache than women. They don’t speak, which is an advantage. They don’t need much and they don’t have any insecurities.”
Debbane has few passions, and from the look of his apartment, they mainly involve designer toys and aliens. “It’s sad actually. It’s pretty sad. But I live in my little world surrounded by my puppets. Oh my, I like Batman too. Soon I’ll be living with my mother in the basement.” He jokingly gestured to me to end interview then and there.
Just then the phone rang. Debbane answered pretending to be the main office of the Lebanese Government. He played along with the caller who was placed on speakerphone. “Yes, who do you want madame?”...“Which minister? We have three here.”…“Milhim Karam is not here today.”
As for cultural influences, from Debbane’s choice of books Japanese culture seems to appeal to him the most. “I enjoy everything that comes from Japan.” On the Lebanese front however, his reaction was different.
“There is one small advantage of working in Lebanon. There is a saying that says ‘In the kingdom of the blind people, the one-eyed is king.’ Here I have more chance of being successful than in Europe, as there are a lot more people like me there, who are better.
“I try to avoid things that annoy me. I found out that they block out my creativity. It’s the case with advertising. It is very limiting. That’s the case with Lebanon; I think advertising is very repetitive here. There are always the same jokes and values in each advertisement. It’s all about clothing, detergents and cooking oil. You have to see that the woman is married, with children, and that she cleans well. Or then again, you have the woman and her nosy neighbour, who calls her to see what she washes [her clothes] with.” Then he slipped into old lady voices and played both characters.
An artist of boundless creativity, he is also not constrained by time. “I am free with my time with [my current] schedule. You have all the time in the world to do whatever you want.” So when asked how he would spend the next six months if there were no financial constraints he replied: “I would go out and help people in every way. I love children, I love to make children happy, to get them gifts and make them laugh. The more you grow up, the less you enjoy things in life. When you grow up you start building barriers that get higher and higher, and you stop appreciating the simple things.”
Just as he would love to make children happy, Debbane believes that “The biggest injustice is to children who don’t grow up normally. Just to have food and shelter. Why can’t we just all get along? The second biggest injustice is why PayPal doesn’t recognise Lebanese bank accounts. Sometimes I wish I was deeper. Here we are worrying about small stuff in our lives when we don’t realise how fortunate we are to be able to do what we want to do.”
On that note, he walked over to the window to let in the fresh winter breeze. “Hello neighbour! Thank you for the flowers,” he screamed to the adjacent, vacant balconies. And that was it, he was off on another tangent.
7am to 12pm: “7 am!” he exclaimed. Debbane is asleep in this time slot.
1pm to 12am: “I wake up around noon, unless I have to teach at some university.” He then bewailed students who are only interested in their physical appearance and attend university because they have to. “I stay in and work at home. I always have illustrations and paintings. I work on paintings mainly at night, after midnight, when everything is calm. I go to the post office to see if some alien from Japan has arrived. I like to manufacture and produce things.”
Debbane’s two cents on….
Favourite movie: “The Royal Tenenbaums by Wes Anderson.”
Favourite song: “Anything by Jacques Brel.”
Do you collect anything: “Aliens, Batman and Grendizer.”
Chance: “It says nothing to me.”
Most appreciated: “The simple things in life.”
Can’t live without: “Cats.”
Most prized possession: “Pichou.”
Best lesson learnt: “Don’t take anything for granted, because you will get disappointed easily.”
The future: “Success. I want to be successful.”
