Jean-François Blanc . artiste peintre . www.jfblanc.com

Article : Bruce Helander

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Photo: Alex Berliner

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"beyond the limits"by Bruce Helander

 Jean-Francois Blanc presents a suite of nude figurative paintings and pastels.This new series celebrates an ongoing fascination that the artist has had for the creative isolation of a single figure, inventively twisted, turned or  sometimes tormented, in order  to capture the best light for outlining his enigmatic subjects.

What sets these classic works apart from a typical figure study is their  backgrounds that allow his anonymous subjects to effortlessly float in the middle of the picture plane. The deep tonalities offer a natural, complementary backdrop for muscular flesh tones and carefully crafted brushstrokes that seem to drift in and out of the foreground and background. When the artist occasionally presents a dark sepia-like background, he is able to incorporate the same calculated definition of figure and stage. Upon closer examination, the viewer starts to understand how important these layered backgrounds become as supportive devices for the central subject. As the paint is laid down stroke by stroke, the artist also incorporates dashes of drips and splashes, which interrupt the formal properties of a flat space and the perimeter line. By overlapping parts of these mysterious warm backdrops onto the figures, a dramatic veil of color and texture swirl around the central image, giving it depth, weight and credibility.  It is the remarkable skill at articulating the figure, however, which command these works to be engaging, inventive and memorable. For these images represent years of patience and painstaking investigation into the idiosyncratic properties of the human figure. Here we find a master at work, with a trained eye that can mold form from a flat surface into a glowing, expansive and convincingly three-dimensional illusion. The figures are, by and large, faceless, features camouflaged by shadows or heads that turn away. This device allows the viewer to fully concentrate on the visual poetry of the figure without a persona or identifiable sexual personality. Where a glimpse of a face does occur, we can read an expressionless straightforward pose  without a narrative suggestion. To produce a rhythmic aroma and reinforce the lyrical power of the picture, the artist surrounds himself with music while he paints. The kind of music can vary enormously, from classical to rock n’ roll, depending on the energy level required. So the metaphorical elements of artist- as-orchestrator, conducting a symphony of disparate lines, tones and textures, play an important part in developing Blanc’s painting approach.

Jean-Francois, born in northern France in a small city named Compiegne, where he grew up to admire a natural attraction to texture — and to touch — are transcended into the foundation of each painting he creates. The surfaces are sculptural to"reinforce the movement of what you are picturing." The artist feels that he can bring to the viewer lifelike form with an underpainting of textural devices that breaks the, academic/classical side of his painting. The artist is concerned that we are losing touch with stone, wood and other natural elements. So the contribution of texture in his work provides a missing ingredient in his formula to reflect life,  In a recent interview, the artist was asked what he thought makes a good painting. His response was... "when you travel beyond your limits. You look at a painting, not believing that you actually painted it, like in a trance, when you can really touch people".  Jean Francois Blanc’s paintings not only provoke people with glorious color and tactile nature, but the people depicted have a body language that celebrates the human figure, touching our spirituality and clearing our vision.

PalmBeachTimes  December 1998

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E-mail Jean-François Blanc