Felix Beausoleil

Painting’s Title: Beasts Awakening

Year: 2019

Materials Used: acrylic, pastel, charcoal on canvas, 160 x 130 cm

Studio’s Location: Cergy- Paris suburbs

 

Art verge

Can you tell us about the process of making your work?

 Felix Beausoleil

My way of proceeding often varies with each paintings but the execution is generally done in a single jet. I avoid imposing too many protocols on myself so as not to get bored in a monotonous practice. For this painting I started drawing with charcoal on the raw canvas like a drawing on paper, with a rough idea of the composition , then shapes come to me and I decide to hide them with a diluted acrylic juice , this covered area leaves traces of visible sketches that will be like a spectrum in front of more striking elements. it allows me to fix the charcoal or pastel and create sets of plans.

How would you define your work in a few words (ideally in 3 words)?

Tonic, melted, messed

Three more words to describe the ‘Beasts awakening’ painting.

Wu tang clan

Is there any story behind this painting? How did you come up with this painting idea?

In this  work I try to evoke some characteristic and physical link between human and animal… this painting for me represents a certain second state or a latent madness for a long time, in full awakening. I don’t really know  how idea come, I wanted to try a different composition and experiment on it.

What colour is used the most in this painting?

Red monochrome

What would be the best way to exhibit your painting? 

I think it is difficult to understand the approach of an artist having seen that only one of these works, so the best way would be to expose it with drawings or paintings that I produced in the same period for example… why not to put  on a wall installation made beforehand….

 Can you mention any artists you, lately or generally, take inspiration from?

It would have been difficult to mention them all. From the surrealist painting of Arshile Gorky to the science fiction drawings of Hans Ruedi Giger through the underground comic strip of Vaughn Bodé.

How do you know when this drawing/painting/artwork was finished?

It depends on what I’m looking for, i may leave a painting for several months and suddenly take it back to finish it, but it’s quite rare. I think it’s a mixture of intuition and a certain balance of forms that tells me if it’s finished or not. Actually, I think the steps of painting execution are sometimes more important than the fact of finishing at the end.

What about the place where you work? What’s your studio space look like?

When it comes to drawing, I work at home, for painting I am in a studio in the Paris suburbs which I share with two other painters . In both cases, it’s quite messy, I can spend a lot of time before I find a tube of paint. Sometimes I paint directly on the wall, then I start a canvas over it until I can no longer separate it from each other, often I move the painting to another room to see it breathe.

Is there any particular message that you wish your viewers can take from this painting?

I prefer to leave a certain universality in my work, that everyone appropriates it in a different way would be fine.

What does your mum think about your art?

Bigger fan

Which exhibition did you visit last?

The last one that really impressed me was an exhibition on the nude drawings of Klimt, Schiele and Picasso at the metropolitan museum.

Which are your plans for the near future?

I intend to finish  an installation project with wood carvings that will be associated with wall paintings. I am part of a collective called “chanoirs” based in Belgium which brings together several artists in painting, textiles, music, I plan to work on some projects of the collective. Otherwise, I will  continue to produce and experiment more and more in my personal works…

Additional Works

© All images are courtesy of the artist

https://www.instagram.com/felix.bsl/