Discover the contemporary work of Hervé CHOUVEL

For almost a century now, the history of art has veered towards the abstract. This marks a considerable and recent change of direction if one considers pictural art from its beginnings the first hand - prints and the first drawings of animals displayed on the walls of prehistoric galleries. Manking has always felt the need to express its fears, its sorrows, its joys and, today, its doubts. This is a vital need. an intrinsic value common to all humanity.There is nothing anodyne about the act of painting, which conceals whithin it the heritage of centuries past, the modemity of its own era and the gateways - the fruits of its research - opened to its future children. "On Earth, matter can neither be created nor destroyed, only transformed" I would agree - but I would exclude art from this maxim. When it taps the essence of something or encapsulates an element of truth, art ceases to be idle chatter and becomes a creation. The activity of painter is sacred. If his art is synonymous with transformation then it is perforce subject to fashions, waves and trends.Abstract art has opened the floodgates - or given a birth - to a tide of pseudo-painters, men with neither talent nor conviction who, for their own despicable purposes, have not hesitated to speculate, to violate our consciences and to profane art. Don't be fooled. A painter is a man who expresses himself with colours. That is all. Painting is noble and has no need of inlays, paper collages, bits of wood or all kings of other objects foreign to the composition. In this respect, we should not confuse the painter with the artist who hardly knows what to invent next in order to be original. These artists are stuk in an impasse, and their work hardly merits the name.The canvas is so much more this. It is an inner laboratory. Where does this state of grace come from which uplifts me with such intensity whilst I am in the middle of painting ? I see things happening and passing through my bands without feeling that I am actually creating them. Afterwards, I realise thet I have played the part of an intermediary - but between what and what ? I have the finished result in front of me, but where is the starting point, the origin ? Within me ? Certainly, if I am working on a theme. but when it comes to improvisation ? Fragments of answers are gradually starting to form, but these mysteries can only be elucidated by the accumulation of experience and by listening to myself. The one thing of which I am certain is that the stronger my will, the less credible and convincing the result.Art is a catalyst for intentions. The blank space of a canvas, an area to be explored, summons the painter and asks questions of him. At that moment, I must be responsible and conscious of what I am doing. A profound and sincere inner gesture must occur to allow art to pass its current through me, a current which first materialises as a background. Little by little, this evokes an atmosphere, from which emanates an intention. A certain harmony present at this moment might incite me to leave the painting as it is, because the background speaks for itself. And sometimes I judge the picture incomplete and then I try with other techniques to give tone, style and feeling. The workbecomes a catalyst for emotions. This alone gives tise to the subtle relationship between the painter and the spectator. Going beyond dialogue, a sincere exchange is established.It is difficult to please, to be innnovative and flot old hat at a time when everything has been tried, when techniques, styles and trends have become so diverse that one wonders what the next milestone will be on the path of pictorial research.I hope that, at the dawn of the new millennium. our contemporary painters will endeavour to pass on to those who come after them the fruits of a labour more profound, more inward and more substantial, which wilI inspire men with a thirst for self-discovery and a desire to embellish the world with simple pleasures. In this, too, painters are entitled to have their say and can play their full part in the spiritual development of humanity.