Zoom in on Nicolas Lefeuvre’s exceptional ink paintings. A dialogue with art history, lux and Asia.
After almost two decades in Asia living in Singapore, Tokyo, China and Hong Kong, Nicolas is now settled in Lisbon. These lives in Asia have not only marked his style of painting (he paints making his own ink and cobalt pigments) but also his inspirations.
Nicolas Lefeuvre is a contemporary French abstract painter. His inks dialogue not only with Art History but also with Asia: far away lands, deep blue seas, depthness of Asia, dephthness of the ink, nocturnal flights, blue hours…
Since 2017, his Land(e)scape series is exhibited around the world in prestigious galleries and fairs next to P. Soulages and Cesar… Discover his series, the rising artist and the man behind the artist.
Former creative director for Chanel, the world of Nicolas is a world of holiness, beauty and aesthetism. Running away from superficiality, he dives within himself in his memories of travel, moments, silence, nature, realities, beauty, love… to create his paintings.
“Happiness is to desire what you already have” he says.
LIGHT AND TEXTURE
Light is his inspiration and also texture.
“L’heure bleue”. The blue hour lights of Asia, the rising sun, the twilight. Mark Rothko and Pierre Soulages have greatly inspired Nicolas Lefeuvre with their expression of light. With Mark Rothko, the light is coming from the back whereas with Pierres Soulages the light is coming from the front of the painting.
His memories from his years with Chanel are never too far. The deep blue and black remind us of the colors of haute-couture. The delicateness of the lines is the one of a delicate textile, the silk, the lace. The composition is so fluid, aerial, pure and each time unique.
The artistic expression of Nicolas is derived from the abstract expressionism. He says “Two things explain very well my path towards abstract expressionism, and they resonate more and more. The first one is a quote from Japanese writer Junichiro Tanizaki, from his essay “In praise of shadows” :“We find beauty not in the thing itself but in the patterns of shadows, the light and the darkness, that one thing against another creates.” (1933)
This definition is important to me as it describes precisely the way I navigate in my work process. I play with the ink to bring out shadows and light in an abstract way which expresses mental snapshots.”
– Pigments ink with metallic golden powder on cotton paper – 2021 140x112cm
His landscapes are real moments he saw and lived. They are also mental landscapes of thoughts, memories, numbers, people…
We see the power of these landscapes when we realise that they belong to everyone…we all have our own landscape, our own realities and memories.
A SENSUAL EXPERIENCE…
The gold powder from Japan he delicately flows out on the ink, is of an extreme sensuality. It floats and diffuses on the ink until it reaches the orgiastic freeze. A technique perfectly executed. This is it, the expression of light, the brilliant idea emerging, the sacred land, the eternality.
“Gold is the color that evokes reflexion; the light that goes from the painting to the viewer who looks at it. […] He is then inside the space he creates.”
– Pierre Soulages
The soft cotton paper is lying down on the floor, Nicolas caresses the paper with the ink as one would caress a body, a piece of silk, an ocean of floating memories, following the shapes, the texture of the skin, the water. Discover how Nicolas works…
The Land(e)scape works of Nicolas has no other purpose than to strive in the now, to caress memories without getting attached to them, to float with all senses and become inquisitive, conscious and introspective. They have an hypnotic effect creating calming sensations like one is overlooking the ocean. The waves gently fadeaway to reveil the vast ocean of present eternality.
HEAR THE COLOR AND SEE THE SOUND
We live in a world of over-consumption of images; everyday scrolling down on the tablet images after images, we forget how to feel and vibrate with what we see, opening all senses to it.
Nicolas, who loves to immerse in his creations with music, has created a spotify mixtape as a mindful invitation to dive and create new territories within oneself!
(discover his performance with Juliette Armanet)
NICOLAS, THE MAN BEHIND THE ARTIST
Nicolas is always in a process of creation.
Father of three kids, the condition of children is very close to his heart. He helps and support the charity “Save the Children”. In parallel, he has his own project to help the many children of the Syrian refugee camp of Zaatari in Jordania. As soon as travelling becomes possible again, he is planning to go share his passion for drawing, allowing the children to dream and feel the pride one can get after finishing a drawing. He is associated in this project with Caran D’Arche.
WHERE TO SEE HIS WORK IN SINGAPORE?
The work of Nicolas can be seen on an ongoing basis at Clementine de Forton Gallery upon appointment.
Thank you Nicolas for making us dream!