Éric Dubarry
I live in Normandy, France.
A professional artist exhibiting internationally and listed at Drouot Paris, painting is most certainly a job for me, but it's also a deep passion. I approach my work with a sensibility that is spontaneous, singular, emotionally charged, intense, strong and alive.
In my interpretation of lyrical abstraction, I embrace a pictorial style that advocates moving towards the abstract language of emotions through colour and gesture.
The gesture, which goes well beyond the canvas, is much driven by my emotions and feelings.
There's something in my inspiration that's directly in touch with nature, the rustle of the wind in the leaves, the lament of a cetacean under the oceans... An infinite source of inspiration, nature doesn't register in me as an image, but as a sensation.
My work has its roots in lyrical abstraction from which I have developed a singular very specific technique that identifies my style: ‘Griffisme™’ (Such as exists elsewhere the Dripping, Tubisme, Surréalisme, Impressionisme, etc.)
Griffisme™, with its mixture of hues and its ample, spontaneous movements, clearly engraved in the canvas, makes my style original, unique, identifiable...
I exhibit my work in France in Paris, Lyon, Cannes, Caen etc. As well as abroad: U.K, Japan, Luxembourg, Monaco, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Austria, etc... and soon the USA and China.
I would like to quote the approach of a painter dear to my heart, Vassily Kandinsky:
‘The inner world of non-figuration must make it possible to act directly on the spectator's soul, in order to make it vibrate, as music does with sounds... The suppression of the figurative referent is precisely thought by the painter as a mode of direct access to the spectator's sensibility.’
Shareholdings:
Listed artist - Certified Drouot quotation
Member of the Taylor Foundation, Paris, France
Delegate of the Arts-Sciences-Lettres Academy, France
Society of Friends of the Maeght Foundation, France
Chevalier Mondial Art Academia, Québec
Member of ArtCan, United Kingdom
Curator 诺曼底的中法友谊
Permanent member of The Artists Galerie des Arts
Member of the AFCN, France-China
Awards:
2023 - Silver Medal Académie Arts-Sciences-Lettres
2023 - Honorary Medal Société des Membres de la Légion d'Honneur
2023 - First prize at the Salon Art International - Anne Clace
2022 - Prix International des Professionnels de l'Art Mondial Art Academia, Québec
2022 - Painting Prize - Académie Arts-Sciences-Lettres, Paris
2022 - Honourable Mention Abstract Painting Mondial Art Academia, Quebec
2021 - Publishing Medal - Barcelona
2021 - French National Selection - Panama
2021 - First Prize of the Jury - Barcelona
2020 - Bronze Public Prize - Caen
Éric, your technique the "Griffisme™" brings a vivid uniqueness to the world of abstract painting. Could you elaborate on the genesis of this technique, and how it specifically enables you to express the deep, often unspoken connection between humanity and nature?
Yes, this technique is singular and I've built it up over time, often drawing inspiration from my mistakes as part of the learning process. In fact, it was almost by accident that the beginnings of Griffisme™ came to me.
My style has its roots in lyrical abstraction, dear to Jackson Pollock, Georges Mathieu, Joan Mitchell, etc... In short what comes first are colours and movement.
I sought to express my sensibility and above all my feelings by engraving the gesture in the paint... But I didn't want to move towards an amalgam of matter, an overpowering vision. I wanted to mark my work with finesse and elegance, handling my tools like a bow on the strings of a violin.
But technique isn't everything, and in the creative phase I let my spirit soar beyond all reality, releasing without constraint the emotions that live within me as I paint. What I feel, what I breathe, what I perceive of nature leaves a trace within me. It's this trace that I memorize and preserve until the need to reproduce it on canvas is stronger than anything else.
The result of this creative process is a rich, organic universe. The world depicted in my paintings is imaginary, accessible, hypnotic, alive...
In this way, anyone can associate the shapes they discover with elements they know: plants, animals, faces... and begin an imaginary journey within the canvas.
Despite drawing inspiration from the elements, your work distinctly avoids direct representation. How do you navigate maintaining your unique voice in lyrical abstraction while ensuring your artworks resonate universally, free from the influence of the grand masters?
That's an interesting question. For me, direct, figurative representation evokes the reflection and perception of what the artist sees. The absence of direct representation gives each individual the ability to see the canvas from an angle he or she wishes, and to see in it what only he or she recognizes and feels, through his or her own emotions.
My painting is gestural, physical... It can be placed somewhere between calligraphy and choreography. It's designed to expose emotions, not to focus attention on a known element.
I admire the great masters, those talented precursors who weren't afraid to shake up custom and convention. However, I've always been wary of getting too close to them. In fact, by admiring the works of a master, we end up unconsciously distilling that particular style into our own work. For my part, I've tried to leave my artistic mind untouched, so as to extract its essence with the utmost sincerity, devoid of any influence.
I believe that what I create is universally accessible, understandable, readable... I'm very attached to the notion of universality.
Your paintings are described as emotionally charged and intense, providing a hypnotic experience to the viewers. What processes or mental states do you engage in to channel such profound emotions into your work, and how do you measure the success of this emotional transmission?
When the need to paint arises, it means that I have accumulated enough emotions and sensations... so I let myself be guided. I abandon any links with reality, with everyday life, I forget all formalism, and only music invades my mind and helps me to rise above consciousness. It's as if I'm detaching myself from my body.
Clawing the paint, revealing the colours, leaving my mark on the material, letting movement express itself without constraint, is the result of a great freedom. This is vital to my creative process.
Sometimes, I'm lucky enough to see emotion invade a visitor's gaze... We chat in front of one of my canvases, and little by little he becomes absorbed by the work. He goes inside, he travels within it... Then his face lights up.
There is no greater reward for an artist than to see the emotions he has imprinted on canvas perceived by a viewer.
One day, a young woman was looking at one of my paintings and the intensity of her emotion brought tears to her cheeks. I was so moved, and she said to me, “I have the feeling that this picture was painted for me”. It was one of my most beautiful experiences.
You mention the rustling of wind and the sounds of cetaceans as inspirations. Could you discuss how these elements translate into your color choices, gestures, and the overall mood of your paintings?
In fact, it's all about sensations and feelings. It's like a vibration, multiple and growing. It's there, inside me, creating an atmosphere that conditions me. My hands grasp the tubes of colour instinctively, without thinking, as if it were obvious...
My movements are conditioned by this atmosphere and by the music that fills me. The only consciousness that remains allows me to ensure a certain balance of colours and movement into a form of resonance. I really don’t know what gestures I'm going to make, what the painting I'm creating will end up looking like.
I feel an awareness that I'm just one of the instruments of the creation along with the colours, the canvas and the knives. When the work concludes, if I'm moved by it, I keep it.
Art, for many, is a conversation without spoken words. How do you envision or perhaps engineer the conversation that each of your pieces initiates with its audience? Is there a particular response or engagement you aim to evoke through your collections?
As was mentioned earlier, my work is largely instinctive and spontaneous, so there can't be a constructed message from me with expected responses.
However, especially when I present one of my works to a viewer, it becomes clear that the painting 'suggests' subjects to them, which they receive, assimilate and recognize according to their own sensibility. It doesn't take long for this exchange to take place, and the more visitors become familiar with the canvas, the more they enter into it, the more it suggests things to them, arousing emotions.
The human mind has the ability to associate lyrical elements of a painting with concrete elements. So everyone will see landscapes, fish, birds, feathers, faces, etc.
I would say that my works establish a conversation with the viewer, inviting him or her on a journey that is both introspective and imaginary.
Working in collections can often present challenges in terms of cohesion and individual expression. How do you balance the thematic unity of a collection while ensuring each piece stands out with its own story and emotional journey?
Yes, working with collections in series can sometimes be likened to "doing the same thing over and over again". But that's not the case.
The constant in my collections is Griffisme™, the colourimetric atmosphere. But each work in the same collection has different nuances, a singular dynamic and often a different format. Each painting has its own identity and above all it reflects what was in me at the time I created it.
In an era where trends can dominate artistic directions, you’ve maintained that your work reflects the sincerity of your emotions rather than artistic fashion. Can you discuss the challenges and freedoms this approach has presented throughout your career?
Oh, Freedom! You've just summed up my answer. We live in an age of consumption. I see a lot of artists getting caught up in "fashionable" practices and techniques that "sell".
For my part this is one of the reasons that led me to create and claim Griffisme™ which is both beyond fashion and singular. I want my work to remain a sincere reflection of my artistic creativity. It's my identity.
I need to sell work to continue to create. But if I had to force myself to paint what appeals, I'd give up my sincerity. Then I wouldn't be able to create.
As one of my friends said to me, not without humour, "You're an artist, not a shopkeeper".
Having exhibited globally, from Japan to Monaco, and soon the US and China, how do you find different cultures responding to your work? Does the perception of your art vary significantly from one region to another?
It's true that cultures have influenced art in many different ways. I think that these variations constitute a source of great wealth. But in all, art there is an element of universality. The emotion conveyed by a work is part of that, as is the overall harmony of the work. Abstract lyricism lends itself very well to communicating with a wide audience.
In general, my paintings are well received wherever they are exhibited, as long as the viewer takes the time to look and agrees to open his heart, his soul perhaps...
You’ve quoted Kandinsky’s belief in the power of non-figurative art to impact the soul akin to music. How do you see your own work aligning with or diverging from this philosophy in practice?
I totally agree with that quote by the great Vassily Kandinsky, and it perfectly sums up my thoughts.
The more figurative the representation, the more the visitor's attention and emotion are concentrated in one point.
On the other hand, arousing an emotion in the viewer in a universe that he creates himself in the work, that he makes his own, is to put his mind in correlation with the painting. It's a bit like giving readers the chance to write all or part of the book they're reading...
With numerous accolades and a distinctive style that has carved out a space in modern abstract painting, what are your aspirations for the future? How do you wish your work to be remembered or influence the next generation of artists?
Who knows what the future holds, but I'd like to teach a few artists my method, my style. I think everyone's inspiration would make what I'm proposing even better.
Griffisme™ is a vast fertile ground, conducive to a form of expression that is at once spontaneous, sincere, emotional, and lyrical.
Of course, I would like my reputation to continue to grow, for the day to come when I have my place in prestigious museums, for my works to stand the test of time and for my style to endure...
But for the time being, my art feeds my soul - what could be better?