Hervé HEUZÉ -

Press release

Galerie Richard is pleased to present the latest works of Hervé Heuzé from January 8 to February 26, 2011.

The Effects of Light

It is Galerie Richard’s fourth exhibition on the Light of Hervé Heuzè. In 2005 with « Séracs » ; he reproduced the dazzling light of high mountains with his oil paintings. In 2007 and 2008 with « Abîmes » he made the viewer plunge into a diffusion of light. Nearly fifteen of his paintings that are presented today show draperies radiated by colored lights placed outside of the frame. By changing the intensity of light and color on the drapery, he obtains infinite variations. His draperies seem to be folding around an empty, round dark space. It can be compared to a black hole that absorbs all light ; here, the gaze of the viewer.

The traces of light on the canvas

This artist from Normandy who is used to observing the sunlight through the clouds, developed a particular photo-sensibility for his filtration effects. Today at age 46, he achieved a maturity that allows him to deepen this personal subject that interested him since childhood.

He passes from oil painting to reproduce the light of the mountains, to acrylic patinting with airbrush to render the diffuse light atmosphere of the abyss. When he uses the paint gun, he is obliged to put on a suit that resembles a diving gear. Today he uses this technique for his drapery series exhibited in Galerie Jean-Luc + Takako Richard.

Filtration of light and projections of painting

For his series titled « abîmes », Hervé Heuzé already used the stenciled technique inspired by Man Ray which consisted of posing an object on the canvas and throwing color around it. The object exists by leaving its trace on the canvas. In his « draperies » series, his technique becomes more sophisticated with the use of tissue as stencil and also an instrument of filtration. With the paint, the mesh is projected on the canvass very precisely. The mental light of the artist is materialized by the paint that transfers onto the tissue.

«By stressing the contrast with the presence of a very dark background, I can render infinite variations of colored lights through the draperies that I put on the canvas. Each painting is like a unique and non-reproducible result of an experience with an intensity and an orientation of colored light that passes through the obstacles and tones them down. The filtered light becomes an actual three-dimensional sculptural material. It is a matter of endless wonder and surprise. When we think about it, the impressionist painters did not say a different thing ». Hervé Heuzé

An international reputation

Hervé Heuzé recently had his first grand solo exhibition in the United States titled « French Contemporary Art : The work of Hervé Heuzé ». He presented large-sized paintings from his series called « Abîmes » in Emily Davis Gallery, in Myers School of Art at the University of Akron, Ohio, from September 9 to October 23, 2010. He is participating in a group exhibition titled « Gerard Garouste et les enfants de La Source » in Musée de Louviers from October 16, 2010 to February 11, 2011.

Hervé Heuzé is exhibited in Galerie Richard simultaneously with the Japanese artist Kiyoshi Nakagami, another painter of Light.