Michel Debully is a French painter and one of the artists participating in the Affordable Art Fair in Brussels. His approach is in line with geometric abstract art, concrete art and constructed art. He discovered a new natural law on the decomposition of light into four colours instead of six. And conceives his compositions by playing on this new partition of the color.
We talked to Michel about his artistic influences and his background.
How did you know you wanted to be an artist?
I think that one does not become an artist, this artistic impulse is in us from childhood. For my part, I knew it when I was about 10 years old, although there are no artists in my family.
Can you tell us about your artistic influences and other artists who inspire you?
My artistic influences have been very varied, at the beginning I practiced figurative painting and I was attracted by nature and color, living near Giverny cradle of impressionism with Claude Monet. I first had a very classical training with professional artists on the traditional techniques of oil painting. The visit of European museums was very profitable for me with the works of Rubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Veronese,… Then, I discovered the work of Paul Klee, the artists of the Bauhaus, Vasarely and the artists of the geometrical abstraction. I had the chance to meet regularly two artists working with color in kinetic art: Carlos Cruz Diez and Yvan Contreras-Brunet.
Michel Debully
How would you describe the concept behind your work?
My training as a graphic designer led me to become interested in digital colour. In the 1980s, I defined a theory on the 4 primordial colors of light and began to develop an abstract pictorial work. Thanks to the technical progress of computer equipment, I was able to experiment with my theory of colours which is the basis of my artistic work. My specificity in abstraction is especially the work of transparencies of pure colors and the random play of primitive forms.
What is your favorite subject to paint and why?
My favourite subject is above all pure colour and all the possibilities of infinite colour transparencies in its digital and pictorial aspect. My acrylic paintings are inspired by my digital research. I also produce editions on different media to allow access to the greatest number of people: digital prints on paper, Subligraphie© on aluminium and digital video animations.
Michel Debully
What message or emotions do you wish to convey through your paintings?
The vibrations of the transparent colours combined with a wide variety of shapes trigger positive emotions and energies on the viewer. The joy of colour is my most important message.
Can you tell us about a project you are currently working on?
I am currently working on several types of projects in digital, acrylic painting, sculpture and urban architectural dressing.
Michel Debully
Are there other artists presented on SINGULART whose work you like?
I really like the pictorial work of the Canadian artist Claire Desjardins, the American artist Katherine Evans, the Hungarian artist Robert Pelles, the German artist Nataly Maier, the French artist Caroline Vis, the Swiss artist Patrick Piccinelli, the German artist Anke Blaue, the American artist John Spears, the French artist Pierre Millotte, the Russian artist Maria Kretova-Babich, the Australian artist Graham Eldridge, the American artist Kate Hooray Osmond, etc… for their work on abstract color.
What advice would you give to young artists starting out?
The most important artistic advice is to believe in yourself and your artistic energy in your personal practice.
Thank you to Michel for taking the time to answer our questions!
