What inspired you to create works of art and to become an artist? (events, feelings, experiences...)
Charlie Hebdo events. In January 2015.
What is your artistic background, the techniques and subjects you have experimented with so far?
I am self-taught. I have always drawn as an amateur since I was little. I compose in acrylic, black felt and Posca on canvas. The subjects are varied but there is still a large part of quirky faces.
What are the 3 aspects that differentiate you from other artists, making your work unique?
Hard to say. How to know everything that is done? so maybe there is someone whose work is similar to mine (or vice versa)...
Otherwise on 3 aspects, let's say: black line, spontaneous writing, attempts!
Where does your inspiration come from?
From what I see and what I admire. From comics. Museums. Saura, Dubuffet, Condo, Gotlib, Edika, Larcenet, Murakami, Chavezt, Burgerman, ... I ask only to remain seduced and my eye constantly searches for this seduction.
What is your artistic approach? What visions, sensations or feelings do you want to evoke in the viewer?
Proliferation and interweaving, multitude and accumulation sometimes arouse astonishment. A touch of humor and lightness all the same. The paintings are delivered to the gaze of everyone who does what he.she wants with them.
What is the process of creating your works? Spontaneous or with a long preparatory process (technical, inspiration from art classics or other)?
Just fast. And a lot of nightlife.
Do you use a particular working technique? if so, can you explain it?
Acrylic and Posca markers on canvas. It can be the black marker first with a filling of colors then or the installation of a colored background on which the marker is applied.
Are there any innovative aspects in your work? Can you tell us which ones?
In the age of NFT, is acrylic on canvas obsolete? It is possible that the analog/digital marriage is on the contrary very advanced. Funny: the seemingly all-powerful digital is only at the service of the analog. The pixel bends easily under the heat of the line. The basic square bends to the anarchy of form, it puts itself at the service of creation.
And then I experiment with working with other artists, in collaboration. It changes from the solo artist side stuck in his studio. A cool wind between the walls.
Do you have a format or medium that you are most comfortable with? if yes, why ?
The formats that allow me to finalize fairly quickly are great. However, I like formats of more than one meter. Not too much length of time on productions. There is so much to do!
Where do you produce your works? At home, in a shared workshop or in your own workshop? And in this space, how do you organize your creative work?
At home, in my living room, near my sleeping yellow cat, I produce at night when the cats are gray, except mine.
Does your work lead you to travel to meet new collectors, for fairs or exhibitions? If so, what does it bring you?
For now, I'm happy to take my paintings directly to Paris and Brussels. This allows me to visit galleries and museums. To go to town. It (is) teeming.
The trip also takes place within the gallery that I co-chair, the Pôle Arts Plastique, here in Guéret, in Creuse, with local artists, very numerous, accessible and talented. It is finally done in Brittany and on the web, most often, by thirst for elsewhere and freshness.
How do you imagine the evolution of your work and your career as an artist in the future?
I would like to organize myself to produce more specific parts for each of my business partners. To avoid delivery errors!
I'm also starting to do workshops with all audiences to show that art is simply accessible.
What is the theme, style or technique of your latest artistic production?
A series of twisted faces but with only 2 colors: red for the mouth and yellow for the hair. Sobriety in the multitude. At last.
Can you tell us about your most important exhibition experience?
Antonio Saura seen in a collective exhibition at the Grand Palais. And then Basquiat a little later and a bit further. The first tape, the second messed up.
If you could have created a famous work in the history of art, which one would you choose? And why ?
A Basquiat head for its multi-layered side. A Delacroix also for the technical side. A Monet or a Courbet to hit the headlines. Un.e Bonheur for its audacity and modernity.
If you could invite one famous artist (dead or alive) to dinner, who would it be? How would you suggest he spend the evening?
It will be an ancient Greek or Roman to ask him lots of questions about the society in which he evolves, the lifestyles, his daily life, his habits of life ... I will not talk too much about art but rather about sociology . Drinking wine... with sweet honey. Otherwise Van Gogh to buy him a canvas and relieve him a little of his Stone.
Olimpia Gaia Martinelli
