Patrick Danion
Patrick Danion is a resident of Lodeve.
He is much more than an artist.
CURRENTLY SHOWING AT A.N.P.Q. Peret, a gallery supported by L.A.
Taken from Press release by A.N.P.Q.
Author of the work Acrylic painting, the artistic phenomenon, (Editions Fleurus, Collection Garance, 1992), international painter, film director and producer - spasp productions – selected for the 31st Festival of Mediterranean Film in Montpelier, Patrick Danion lives and works in Lodève.
The latest experiences which he offers to be discovered in the gallery ANPQ will not fail to surprise even those who know Patrick Danion from the end of the 70s, the skilful, precise painter, who created dreamlike portraits of the banks of Salagou and the devastated splendour of the ruins of Celles. Questioning admirers of his paintings from the end of the 80s, those works of madness, created when he discovered the potential of acrylic paint and lovers of his first mature paintings, loaded with the earth and sand of his territory, crusted landscapes, sea beds, contemporary images of the Gulf War, will find some fragments of this period there.
But what of tiles? videos? text and music?
L’Or de l’Art, February, 2010
My recent work was based on the form of the landscape, its internal structures which hold us together. For me the universe manifests itself in infinite forms, whether it is in the stars, on the earth, in the landscape, in the animal kingdom and throughout the human world.
I make no distinction between the abstract and the representational. I think of them both in the same way. I work with the shapes that exist in the material. In this way, I discovered how I could express the multi-layered traces of human presence on this planet, hidden increasingly by veils which intrigue me. This trace becomes more and more virtual.
I work without brushes with ‘a paste’, which I make with acrylic resin and pigments. I draw and I find a rhythm, and after working on landscapes, I recently looked for inspiration in the human form. Immediately, I began painting on a white stone tiles which seem to say ‘bathroom’. The nude and its golden pink volumes mixed with the steam of warm water. Little by little the shock of world events, which I experience every day, simply changed this idea of ‘bathroom’ into ‘kitchen’ bearing with it the fresh meat of the last news…
We see tiling in every part of our lives. In a shop, in the subway where we tread on this surface. We brush our teeth in front of it, prepare food on it and are surrounded by it. I work with the idea that on this common material, news of the world arrives, is lived, it arrives in bursts, piles up on this cold and smooth material, mixed with the blood of meat prepared for cooking, with chicken cut into and with fish and seafood. Sometimes we cut ourselves by accident and our own blood spatters and frightens us. We question the guilty knife, and the news arrives, always excessive and thrown across this cols surface. The image overtakes me, and, sometimes, mixes with images of the beauty of the landscape, the pinkish body of a woman warmed by a hot shower alongside a lovingly prepared, sweet smelling divine meal…
I also write, and am a lover and obsessive user of new technologies. I began producing, on the same theme, more graphic work that I call ‘strong digital waters’, which I print on ‘papier Arches’. In parallel, I create films, which open a wide spectrum of creativity: these works are interspersed with my own texts, and the layered sound textures which I find fascinating.
I am convinced of the importance of mixing these various means of expression that are representative of the time we live in and which are an integral part of our world. Contemporary art is characterized and informed by this imperative fusion of technologies.
Patrick Danion 2010 (Spasp)
ExHIBITIONS:
Pézenas, Hôtel des Barons de Lacoste : « de Patrick Danion à spasp, 20 ans de peinture », September 2007 ;
Art Metz, 2003 ;
Foire Internationale de Barcelone, October 2001 ;
Foire Internationale de Hong Kong, May 2001 ;
Foire Internationale de Pékin, August 2001 ;
Foire Internationale de Zurich, December 2000 ;
Foire Internationale de Pékin, August 2000 ;
Foire Internationale de Shanghai, November 2000 ;
Atelier Z, Paris, June 2000 ;
Concours des Architectes Belges, organised by Electrabel au Musée d’Art Moderne de Gand, November 1999, 23 paintings sold;
Galerie Arcade, Gand, Belgique, 1997 à 2006 ;
Musée Fleury Lodève, 34-France, August/September 1996 ;
Galerie Point Rouge, Paris, September 1995 ;
Galerie Jean Pierre Harter, Paris, 1991 - 1995.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
Galerie Arcade, Gand, Belgique, June 2009
« Ma femme… », Brick@ndBial, Lodève, Summer 2007
« Des mots qui signent la pensée… », Brick@ndBial, Lodève, été 2006
Patrick Danion & Gibert Swimberghe, Galerie Art Dépôt, Bonheiden, Belgique, 14 - 18 August 2004 ;
Patrick Danion & Zhang He Ping, HaKaren Gallery, Singapour, 23 - 29 August 2003 ;
Patrick Danion & Pierre Alechinski, Galerie Arcade, Gent, Belgique, 25 June - 6 March 2001 ;
2000, pour qui, pour quoi, Clermont l’Hérault, August 1999 ;
Ville de Montpellier, Maison des Rapatriés d’Outremer, July 1998 ;
Juin des Arts, Aniane, 1997;
Coup de Cœur Paris, Espace Pierre Cardin, June and December 1996 ;
De l’œuf à l’ovale, Carré Ste Anne, Montpellier (Amis du Musée Fabre), October 1996 ;
Thon sur Thon, Sète, 1996 ;
Mégalaubie, Massillargues Attuech, August 1996 ;
Salon Comparaisons , Paris 7ème, 1995 ;
Musée de la Clape, Cap d’Agde, July - September 1990 ;
Ufa Fabrik, Berlin, 1986 ;
Musée Fabre, Montpellier, 1984 ;
Musée Fleury, Lodève, 1984 ;
Médaille d’Or de la Ville de Lodève, 1978 & 1979 ;
Médaille au Salon de Peinture de la Ville de Montrouge, 1974.
videos:
« CASANOVA », short film, 2009, film selected for 31st Festival du Film Méditerranéen de Montpellier, section « Expérimental »
« EFFERVESCENCES », short film, 2008, film selected for the 30th Festival du Film Méditerranéen de Montpellier, section « Expérimental », of films made in the region. Two public screenings during the festival in October 2008 at the Musée Fabre.
« ELECTIONS 2008 », short film, 2008
« UN JOUR COMME LES AUTRES », short film, 2007, version 1
« MA FEMME DANS SON BAIN », short film, 2007