Franck Desdemaines (1940 - 2010)

- "Untitled," Oil on canvas signed lower right Desdemaines and dated 77. On the back, the stretcher is marked Desdemaines. Franck Desdemaines's artistic journey is the story of a journey, a quest whose demands forbid any compromise. His painting, which he himself likes to call "unclassifiable," is the culmination of many years of study and wanderings around the world, which have allowed him to acquire a serenity he wishes to share. His works, in their simplicity and purity, offer a space for rest and contemplation, far from the frenzy of the times, in contrast to an era that functions by categories, suggesting an illusory, intimate freedom, the order to always have answers, to have to understand in order to love. On the contrary, his work is intended to be a free work that allows him to free himself from all constraints and rediscover emotional spontaneity and true independence of mind. The artist followed this path, proceeding by successive eliminations, renouncing what could have provided him with a certain artistic "comfort," thanks to his mastery of the techniques acquired at the Beaux-Arts and the Arts Décoratifs. Eight years constitute a considerable "luggage," but one that weighs him down. To be himself, one must renounce it. His arrival in the Dordogne in the 1970s allowed him to rid himself of all influences, all easy options. Slowly, all figurative representation disappeared from the canvas, not simply to achieve non-figuration but total abstraction, with the only key words being rigor and integrity. Music, already very present in the artist's life, then takes on a new importance: the repetitive rhythms of contemporary music, such as that of Philip Glass, have, in his own words, "held the brush" for him, because they correspond to his own touch. Each creation engenders a ritual, in which all the artist's senses are engaged: the olfactory power and smoothness of oil paint, the sensuality of the linen canvas, which he takes possession of by mixing grays, applying stroke by stroke with a small brush to fill the canvas and appropriate the space. Then the colors appear, sometimes consciously aroused, sometimes like sudden impulses to which he surrenders. The colors blend together through thousands of brushstrokes, the nuances appear, trapping the gaze but without disturbing it, without any roughness, before the brush catches, before the work becomes "labor." The artist demonstrates the same rigor here, refusing to play with materials, denying us any escape. Indeed, nothing seems to impose itself on the eye, and the approach can only be instinctive and no longer intellectual. This apparent void provokes the viewer in the sense that it forces them to react differently, to draw from elsewhere, far from their usual references and reactions. Although inevitably engaged in this pictorial research, Franck Desdemaines nonetheless remains open to other creative desires, which he calls his "sideways," such as these small formats where he experiments with the hidden and unexpected resources of materials such as emery cloth or simple wire mesh. Another way to surprise the viewer, once again disrupting what they took for granted. This painting is one of those works through which the artist occasionally escapes, as he himself says, to release his energy and venture in other directions. The technique remains the same, and the oil is applied with brushes without anything to catch the eye and create illusions. The artist offers a deliberately, visibly optimistic work, where the colors are present even if they are blended. The aim is to offer the viewer a space for reflection, relaxation, a haven to escape, a moment of pure serenity, in a world that in no way invites this. These moments are essential in the artist's eyes, but are no less difficult to create visually. The apparent simplicity of the canvas, the result of a long process that must remain invisible, always stems from the same requirement: to offer the viewer the opportunity to see and experience the work in complete freedom. He lived and worked in Campagne, in the Vézère Valley (24). Main solo exhibitions: . Galerie du Fleuve, Bordeaux, 1975 and 1979, . Galerie Zographia, Bordeaux, 1986 and 1990, . Site-specific installation: Pastel, Lights and Transparencies, Dordogne Departmental Archives, Périgueux, 1990, . Oils on canvas and pastels, Musée du Périgord, Périgueux, 1995, . Galerie "L'App'Art", Périgueux, 2004. Main group exhibitions: . Mostra del Larzac, 1977 to 1991, . Espace Cardin, Paris, 1984, Winner of the 2nd Visual Arts Symposium, "Reflections" in situ, Périgueux, 1990. Art and Nature in Soudat (24): "Land Art", 1996. Geumgang Nature Art Biennale, Korea, selected in 2002 and participated in 2004. Numerous works in France and abroad since 1991: painted panels, fences, land art installations in public and private spaces. [Information gathered from the website of the Dordogne Departmental Contemporary Art Fund, a publication written in 2005 for the acquisition of one of his paintings (untitled, 92 cm x 73 cm) : fdac.dordogne.fr]