Proud to present the official Christophe Szpajdel biography,he is also known as "The Lord of the Logos" with the official Christophe logo,made by Stephan Art,who is the official illustrator of the Art Deco Society of California.(to take a better look at the logos click on one of them then use the arrows to jump to the next one,just sayin'!)
Christophe Szpajdel was born in 1970 in Gembloux, Belgium and started drawing since the age of 3.
Already in his early years, fascinated by both nature and the dark side of this world, CS forged his vocation in art, despite the orientation of his studies, which were initially Biology and Forestry.
In the beginning of the 80's, inspiration flew and upgraded with the acquaintance of the sinister sounds of such bands as Ultravox, The Cure, Visage, Black Sabbath, Uriah Heep, Hawkwind, Venom, Celtic Frost, Possessed, Mercyful Fate, Candlemass, Infernal majesty, Sarcofago, Vulcano, Necrodeath, The Melvins and much more...
In 1989, when started studying Biology/Agronomy/Forestry at the Universite Catholique de Louvain, LLN, Christophe joined forces with a locally based fanzine called Septicore, which put out 6 issues between 1989 and 1991. It is by these time Christophe got in touch with Samoth when taking care of Thierry's corrspondence. That was the time when he was just about to start Emperor, tired of his death metal bands Xerasia and Embrionic (who released a very good death metal demo called "Land Of The Lost Souls"). I surprised both Mortiis and Samoth by sending them a gift, the Emperor logo and i found out, with great delight, this logo accompanied every Emperor release, from the cult demo "Wrath Of The Tyrant" throughout all the discography. My name featured on the album "In The Nightside Eclipse" was the starting point of The Great Odyssey...my name started its travel across the four corners of the world with the release of this album in 1994, which co-incided with the uprising of the second wave of black metal.
Apart completing such important logos like Liar Of Golgotha, Old Man's Child, Desaster, Ceremonium, Nargaroth, Borknagar, Corpus Christii, Flagellum Dei, Kult Ov Azazel, Trimonium, Nachtmystium, Impiety, Moonspell, Filii Nigrantium Infernalium, Graveland, Dark Horizon Productions, Witchcraft, Witchmaster, Darkside Of Innocence, Anima Damnata, Hell-Militia, Behexen, Horna, Tsjuder, Enthroned, Ezurate, Primigenium, Deviser, Seth, Covenant, Cursed Ruin, Licurgo, Necro Ritual, Soulburn, Forever Mourne, Wolves in the Throne Room, Abigail Williams, Hantaoma, With Faith Or Flames, Forever Mourne, Ancient Malus, Dark Storm, Trimonium, Stormcrow, and many...many more, Christophe spent a lot of time on travelling and visited quite a lot of parts of Europe like Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Norway, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal (incl. The Azores) and the USA (California, New Jersey, Oregon...) where he made most of it starting with connections through the internet.
2007 came as a breath of fresh air in his creativity, leading to the diversification of his art through the re-visitting of Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Moderne....what infused a noticeable spark in Christophe's ceativity. That also knocked down a lot of barriers and stereotypes, allowing Christophe to explore new direction and venture into themes never trodden before....some examples are such logos recently created as In The Wake Of Tragedy, Starless Night, Spheres, Nocturn Deambulation, The Green Evening Requiem....
That enlargement of interests and styles allowed Christophe to reach a wider public, not only restricted to the metal circle but also to the para-musical universe, which allowed him to gain interests and take commissions from clothing companies and other businesses which are not related with music.
In 2008, Christophe is offered to take part in Mark Riddick's compendium book "Logos From Hell", displaying 17 of his artworks alongside with Chris Moyen, Kris Verwimp, Medan Savamhel (Ba'al Graphics), Daniel Desecrator, Lou Rusconi, Rob Smits...
In 2009, several Art Deco oriented logos were selected to be part of an Art Deco themed Exhibition curated by Stephan (www.artdecosociety.com/stephanartist or www.myspace.com/stephanartiste which occured in Newport, Oregon
January 2010, release of the long awaited book "Lord Of The Logos" on Gestalten , www.gestalten.com
January 2010: Mini-exhibition (solo show) at the Exeter Central Library
October 25-30th 2010, Music and Image Festival, Rotterdam . Speech at Cinerama about the dynamics of creating a logo and exhibition at Roodkapje, Downtown Rotterdam
December 2010, creation of the Official Website
September 2011: Devon Open STudios, Exeter
September 2011 Magnum Opus Tattoo Gallery, solo show
October 2011: Little Krimminals, Studio krimm, berlin, Germany
October 2011: Graphic Design Now in Progress- Walker Arts Center, Minneapolis, USA
As of today, Currently employed as Retail supervisor in a convenience store Christophe continue his passions like Travelling, Discovering nature...and producing quality logos on a very regular basis, as you can look through his pages
www.flickr.com/christopheszpajdel
www.myspace.com/christopheszpajdel
www.facebook.com/christophe.szpajdel
Here are some examples of Christophe Szpajdel's work,there will be more presented in the future!
