Annie Bocel – Print & typographic punches

Bretagne – 1988

Annie Bocel is an engraver artist and a punchcutter. She graduated in engraving from Estienne school (Paris) in 2008. During her training, she learnt about embossing and hot stamping with the engraver Jean‐Luc Seigneur. At the same time, she followed a professional license in business creation in the art crafts.

In 2014, she committed herself to learn a disappearing skill from Nelly Gable in the cabinet des poinçons of the French National printing office. This transmission took place within the framework of the Maîtres d’art & Élèves set up by INMA. From then on, she entered the very special world of typographic punches.

Her savoir-faire is rare and unknown, except in the world of letterpress. This demanding know‐how is intimately linked to the history and evolution of typography.

It is in all humility that she has integrated the long chain of engravers resulting from the invention of Gutenberg. She met her peers, two punchcutters practicing abroad, proof that the modern world has not yet extinguished the desire to practice such craft.

Reasearch and innovation

Annie Bocel is driven by an artistic aspiration and a desire to give meaning to her work. She is involved in a permanent process of research and improvement of techniques. Her approach is rooted in the mastery of the different techniques she uses, the punchcutting, the striking of matrices, the intaglio and the embossing, all of which have the common goal of making an imprint. This notion of imprint is essential and echoes in all of her work, invoking the idea of trace, memory and the sacred.

Will to transmit

Transmission is an important value to Annie Bocel. She taught intaglio in a Parisian workshop before moving on to Créanog, an embossing and hot stamping printer. This desire for passing on is really apparent. Even more since she drawn her own hands the book called Drawing the movement, cutting the type punch. It was presented at Bibliothèque Mazarine in January 2019 (in collaboration with Nelly Gable and INMA).

Fondation Rémy Cointreau is pleased to support Annie Bocel in the acquisition of  a new device, a  specialized printing press, wich allows her to dedicate her working time to printing and the realisation of typographic punches.