Romy Schneider (2018) Painting by Carlos

Charles De Ridder can look back on a rich career as a marketing manager and communications specialist. He worked with top designers from the Benelux for more than eighteen years. From 2003 to 2010, he was the owner and managing director of the marketing and communications company ‘Checkpoint Charly’. This company provided advice at the highest level to various international firms and federations. Charles was also general manager of ‘The Independents’ (1998-2003). In six years, ‘The Independents’ became the pioneer in interactive communication and multimedia.

Charles continues to miss working with top designers enormously. ‘Fortunately, I found a remedy and outlet for that through painting, which has been a passion of mine for ten years’, says Charles. Art movements such as pop art and surrealism are his greatest sources of inspiration. He finds playing with colours when painting portraits particularly enriching. ‘You have the freedom to accentuate character traits even more with colours’, Charles explains. ‘With the touch of surrealism you can step out of reality, show a way of thinking, guided by fantasy, without any controlled reason and detached from moral values.’ Charles prefers to paint idols who have a ‘corner’ off: David Bowie, Salvador Dali, Madonna, Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot, Prince, Amy Winehouse, Louis de Funès, Vin Diesel, Sinéad O’Connor … What fascinates him most when painting portraits are the eyes. Charles: ‘I have also painted several unknown women, with a special emphasis on their eyes. In my opinion, a woman’s strongest weapon is her eyes.’ Since last year he has also been painting monkeys. That gives him even more ‘freedom’ because he can emphasise the expression of feelings, on their charisma.

• Nationality: BELGIUM
• Date of birth : 1967
• Artistic domains:
• Groups: Contemporary Belgian Artists