PURENESS BALANCE
* with Francois Bonnel

by Nikkolos Mohammed

The window of pureness of an artist looks promising in 2021. In reflecting on the reshuffle of norms in 2020, there is optimism on what the fine art realm looks like in the new year. The narrative of struggling to survive as an artist is a common story learned at an adolescent age in the western world, as well as the child’s freedom and purity of their creations. We encourage the freedom of abstraction, and the release of ideals beyond the expectations of representational forms. Where is the balance of pureness and commercialisation? In this balance, is there an attractive quality that we want to live with?

Francois Bonnel is an artist that balances improvisation of abstraction using pain, with the structure of mocking compositions on the computer before painting.

YOUR PAINT PALETTES HAVE A DISTINCT BALANCE OF VIBRANT AND NEUTRAL COLORS.
CAN YOU DESCRIBE THIS BALANCE IN THE WORK AND WHY IT IS IMPORTANT?
The notion of aesthetics is fundamental to my work. I often try to paint something that I will enjoy looking at. Simplicity gives me a sense of well-being. Thus, like most "minimalist" artists, I try to paint simple forms with few colors on the same canvas. I then try to give them "depth" by playing with superimpositions, shadows or transparencies. A bright color brings an extra energy, warmth... I usually decide at the last moment which color I want to use because it often depends on my mood and ... the music I listen to when I paint.

AS AN ABSTRACT ARTIST, WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR WORK AS SPONTANEOUS OR CONTROLLED?
I admit I never asked myself this question...I take few notes and I don't make sketches. Instead, I work on my composition on a Mac to get an overall view of the result I hope to achieve. Then I paint from memory directly on the canvas, often leaving me a part of improvisation ... without other constraints than the pleasure of aesthetics. It's very selfish. Finally I have the impression that I paint as I live. Too much control is boring and too much spontaneity is a mess...but both are essential to me to be happy!

HOW DO YOU IMAGINE THAT THE VIEWER CAN INTERACT, AND EVEN LIVE WITH YOUR PAINTINGS?
Since I don't paint for others, I don't know anything about it...Unlike musicians, actors, sportsmen, painters hardly interact with their spectators...A painter has no public, except exhibitions and museums where everything is "under control".

But social networks like Instagram, allow to have a tendency. In general, people who follow me pay me compliments...that my paintings have "something soothing". Abstraction allows the viewer to see what he wants, it's up to him to decide, I don't intervene anymore. I don't want to "explain" a painting....Those who want an explanation hang on to the title of the work knowing that I usually name a painting after a song I liked when I was painting it! ...But I admit that these random choices sometimes work very well with the work I painted.

.artist talk
Francois Bonnel
speaks with
Nikkolos Mohammed
first published in:
issue 30, 01/2021

HOW DID YOUR ADVERTISING BACKGROUND INFLUENCE YOUR ARTISTIC PRACTICE?
The job of an advertiser is to create the need to sell a product ... It's exciting but exhausting, especially since the creative part is limited by imperatives that I did not control. As I often say, "a painting is not for sale...but, it can be bought !" The power of creation should always be more important than the power of conviction! There is nothing to argue... Like a love encounter, there is an inexplicable emotion that takes over and imposes itself...

IS YOUR PERSONAL BACKGROUND AT THE ORIGIN OF WHAT YOU DO IN YOUR ARTISTIC CAREER? DO CURRENT TIMES IN THE WORLD INFLUENCE YOUR PRACTICE?
Is your personal background at the origin of what you do in your artistic career? Do current times in the world influence your practice? My grandfather painted, my mother taught Fine Arts. I have always painted but I never thought I could make a good living out of it. So I opted for a more traditional career but I always painted as an amateur whenever I had the opportunity. Two years ago I quit my job and gave myself 18 months to paint full time. Everybody thought I was crazy! But my family was great and followed me. But I think it was vital for me.

On the advice of a friend I opened an account on Instagram and started to publish my paintings...I imagined myself canvassing art galleries in Toulouse to get a few meters of exposure...And then finally after a month it was one, then two local galleries that contacted me. That gave me a lot of courage and confidence. Then then I had the chance to be published by the very influential online galleries...

The current times do not really influence my artistic practice but I must admit that the current communication tools have boosted my artistic career. With the health problems of COVID, many "physical" galleries have not been able to work normally and many art lovers have discovered the "Online" art market on a global scale... Let's say that today, I try to live from my passion with the communication tools of my time... And it's probably because the world is a bit anxious that I try to paint "soothing" works!

The balance of freedom and structure in one’s unique life can be described to many as the hardest thing in life to do. To share that balance through art and allow for others to begin to find their balance, is the tree of life that we wish to teach our children during their adolescence.

credit header image

Francois Bonnel
Expo «Virtual In Situ»