Interview

Apr 23

François Reboul

François Reboul lives and works in Venice and Provence in France. His works are mainly acrylic on canvas in large formats. He creates abstract expressionism.

What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?

“Since my childhood, I was always most interested by graphic arts. My main point of interest was Abstract Expressionism and the School of New York with such preeminent artists as Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline, Joan Mitchell, Lee Krasner, etc. and also philosophy! Eventually, I decided to devote my professional life to medicine (oncology) but I was always very close to the contemporary art and spent most of my private life with my friends artists in Paris and the south of France. I was also an art collector of many works by my friends artists for me and my institution. A large part of my personal life was devoted to museums, galleries, studios and international art fairs (Art Basel, Art Basel Miami, Paris FIAC, London Frieze, Venezia Biennale, etc.) When I retired in 2010, I decided to become an artist myself and started painting intensively with now a corpus of around two hundreds canvases. Time has now come to show my work! I live and work in Venice but also in L'Isle-su- la-Sorgue (Provence, France) where my family roots remain since five centuries.”

What inspires you?

“Abstract expressionism.”

How would you describe your work?

“I do constant research in abstract expressionism and interior landscapes!”

Which artists influence you most?

“I am inspired by many amazing artists like Willem de Kooning, Joan Mitchell, Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner to name a few.”

What is your creative process like?

“I spend a lot of time thinking about my next work in terms of color and forms. When I feel ready, I start quite spontaneously close to a jazz music improvisation. From there, I work sequentially with prolonged periods of meditation before going to the next step. Then, the work itself shows me where to go!”

What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?

“Every artist should primarily work for himself in solitude, devoting his entire life to his work! He should never be distracted or obnubilated by champagne, cocktails, meeting, wordiness, success or money. Art is primarily a solitary journey! In the end, this is the only way of a personal contribution to bring some beauty to this frightening word and sharing that with others to combat ugliness if possible!”