Philippe Derome
Philippe Derome is a French figurative painter, born in 1937.
Biography
Philippe Derome grew up in Boulogne-Billancourt and in Villeurbanne. In 1956 he settled in Paris where he studied for two years with Paul Colin. From 1960 to 1970 he was privileged enough to be part of the sophisticated and artistic circles of Paris. In Paris, he met black American students and writers such as James Baldwin. Baldwin fed his interest for the question surrounding black identity, the struggle for civil rights in the USA and its use as a subject for contemporary and figurative art. Later in the 80's He painted also on the black people in France.
The staggered representation of recreation is another dominant theme seen in Derome’s work. He succeeds in inciting a sense of surprise from even the most banal source. He seizes the moment or as Alexandre Vialatte puts it; even the most ordinary of scenes possesses the greatest sense of mystery.
Themes
His main subjects are :
- The leisure civilisation : Winter sports, beaches scenes, nights clubs [1][2]
- Négritude,African-American Civil Rights Movement, Selma to Montgomery marches and later black people in France[2][3].
- Vanitas[2]
- War [4]
Techniques
- Oils and acrylics on canvas, gouaches on paper.
- Objects and painted furnitures.
- Collages : books of photograpics assemblies or colors papers silhouettes cut and stuck as artwork
Quotations
I chose these incidents in Selma because I could handle them with more detachment. But I was also influenced by my readings of James Baldwin. Perharps we have not yet had a French events quite as dramatically as some American authors whom I happened to read. As I read translations of American books and American press reports, Once I had visualized what had happened almost like in a lice TV show. Once I had visualized it, the rest was relatively easy, like sketching from real life. In a way, anything that i have fully visualisze in already old-hat : I can then paint it without allowing any of the emotions of surprise or indignation to interfere. But I must feel these emotions first, when I’m actually visualizing an experience and before I begin to paint it.[5]
"He’s just himself, Philippe Derome, verylittle about –isms and the théories and ideas of others."[5]
"As well as the figurative his work is about otherness: the other who we know as little about as we know about ourselves."[4]
Artworks
- Riot (1963)
- Selma marche (1968)
- Black head (1971)
- Le Flore (1973)
- Jusqu'à quand ? (1974)
- Skieurs (1976)
- Harmony (1987)
- Tank rouge (1994)
- AIDS, hotel Bailey, NY (1997) [6]
Shows
- 1959 : Galerie Luc Burnap. Saint-Tropez. France
- 1960 : Luc Burnap Gallery. New York. USA
- 1967 : Biennale du Grand Palais, Paris (« Ph.Derome peint une conversation au Flore à la manière de Jean-Luc Godart », J. Warnod, le Figaro
- 1968 : Salon de Mai «A very hard-working young painter who knows what he wants and worries very little about –isms and the théories and ideas of others. » Edouard Roditi, NY Diplomat
- 1973 - 1980 : Galerie Annick Gendron Paris
- 1974 : Collection Jean Pierre Brasseur-Gregor. Munich (with a documentary realized by Fassbinder)
- 1978 : Marbella Club. Marbella
Notes and references
- ^ Couteau-Bégarie autions - Collection Raymond Subes - 2008, Collection Georges Geffroy, Paris - Collection Roger Hauert - David Rockefeller NY
- ^ a b c Galerie Annick Gendron, Paris- 1973-1980
- ^ Correspondence with Dominique de Ménil, Menil Archives, The Menil Collection, Houston
- ^ a b Action Art contemporary art show Cite error: The named reference "Action Art" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b Philippe Derome: a young Paris painter without an -ism. Edouard Roditi. Diplomat, New York, 1968
- ^ Bailey house website http://www.baileyhouse.org/
External links
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