Text that accompanied the series of paintings SUMMERDRESS I – IV ("Everybody has a body & memories too") exhibited during the Salon de Noël 2008, at St Antonin Noble Val (Tarn & Garonne, France)
Forget about my formal education in arts, about my exhibition track record, or, more profoundly, the question why I came to painting as medium to express myself. This would all just be accessory information.
It took me a 60 years’ journey to understand that the female form (and the mind that comes with it) is the most beautiful product in evolution to look at. A woman spreading her legs with the intention to be known, represents the most powerful sign of welcome to intimacy there has ever been created. It’s space the female offers, to restore bonds lost long ago. By contrast, the male’s offer, the planting stick, looks instrumental, designed for effect, ephemeral and actually awkward. We endlessly make jokes about it, but it is truly a sad heritage*).
The female form & mind is the central source of inspiration to tell about my personal journey in life. The female form as I present it is a ‘warts and all’ affair. I do not aspire to develop a standard for what I feel beauty is. Hands or feet may look worn. A face may look worried. Important though is that you feel you’re watching a portrait (not just a picture of an unclothed body) including all the human elements, and that nothing, for whatever reason is hidden. Painting-wise, I treat a vaginal area like I paint an ear (a favourite element in my painting experience) or a foot. Forget about connotations here; they are eventually in your mind, not in mine. Forget about telling me I produce pornography. On the contrary, there is that deliberate effort to undo the portrait from the possibility to make such links. In fact, my painting is meant to celebrate the female form & mind, not to debase it.
I
understand that your eventual openness to my pictures is determined by your
personal history. In case you have been misused, or when you live an unhappy
life with your body, it is unlikely that you will feel comfortable in front
of my work.
However, I silently hope that watching this work will bring tears to your eyes,
and liberating thoughts for that matter. No need to involve me here. I happened
to just be that little stone in your shoe, the Romans called ‘stimulus’.
15/10/2008
*) I’m a firm believer of that old Greek idea that the male and female were once an entity. The moment we came apart, to me, is like the second ‘big bang’. It left us wandering, sometimes in great solitude, looking for our counterpart. Truly, in the division of the spoils, the male clearly came out with the worst deal. Maybe, that second big bang just didn’t allow the time to come forward with a more equal deal…….