Discover the contemporary work of Antoine HENRY

Born in Paris, Antoine Henry (.eu) first began a career in the world of Haute Couture, and he first apprehended painting creating pieces "through colour and rhythm, very much like music creations, comparable to sound waves on computers or on brain waves recording machines", he says.Soon, as usual in such cases, Antoine destroyed most of his works, "unsigned besides". Part of these works were saved however having been bought at the time by a few friends and relatives.He will then drastically change his vision, leaving this non-figurative period to enter one based on colour, approaching what Gauguin called -cloisonnisme-.According to Antoine Henry (.eu), it is not possible to make any progress without trying new techniques; the brush is only too narrow and so he turns to using many different materials such as sand, cracked backs, knives, but "nothing is really systematic". Mixed images mixtures are taken in everyday ordinary life and more especially in cafés where he finds his source of inspiration. These long observation laps of time give him the opportunity "to confront with the intimacy of people without molesting them". Our painter rapidly sketches them in a small book, so that people may not be aware of it, otherwise it would be missed and the natural gestures would be lost at once. "It is a sensuous and aesthetic pleasure".As he was still working in the fashion industry, Antoine Henry (.eu) got the opportunity to settle abroad, and he chose Japan. It was obviously a good choice, as this country is keen to learn more about European culture, especially the French one ever since it reopened to the outer world in 1854, the golden age of Impressionism, with a Japanese influence named ?japonism- by the discovery of Japanese art through Van Gogh, Monet and Gauguin in particular.ln 1996, Antoine presented his works for the first time at the Alliance Francaise in Osaka, and he met there a gallery owner who was impressed by his works. This encounter was to be a lucky one, and our artist nowadays goes to Japan two or three times a year, after having lived there a bit more than two years, between 1996 and 1998. Since then, she looks after him in Japan, where his paintings are also regularly displayed and sold. Antoine's works induce people into apprehending for themselves what they see - thus the title: "You Name It" given as a general title for most of his exhibitions. Behind the visible emptiness of the paintings, each of us may imagine his own world, as "your heart and your eyes indulge their own tricks".Antoine is now working on presence: how a mere sketched line may arise memories and the imagination ("but isn't that the same ?") in the beholder's eye. Quite often as we sit down the magic of everyday life becomes obvious and we build or memories be they good or bad ones through the beings we come across or we become.Thank you for visiting. Have a pleasant time and a kind eye