We Can Change !... (2009) Painting by Cebarre

Who is CEBARRE? CEBARRE is the diminutive of Charles BARRE, his real name. A French national, Charles BARRE was born on November 11, 1949, in Paris. As a child, he spent several years in Italy, in Rome, where his father, Louis Carolus BARRE, a former member of the French School of Rome, had obtained a position at the Palazzo Farnese. Nurtured by the "dolce vita" and strolls in the gardens of the Villa Medici, the young boy grew up in a brilliant environment where history, art, and literature readily intermingled in family conversations. His father, a scholar, Latinist, and great historian of the Middle Ages, had no difficulty in passing on to him his taste for culture and his love of beautiful things. The Roman escapade ended when his father was permanently appointed to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Back in France, the family settled in Paris, in the very heart of Saint Germain des Prés, the artists' district, a living symbol of the New Wave. Charles Barre then pursued the studies his parents had hoped would be classical. However, the events of 1968 would shake things up, and the rebellious student enrolled in law school without much conviction. It would take a few years for him to turn to the business world. "A dull period!" the artist readily admits, and he would have to wait until the 1990s, just after his father's sudden death, to reconnect with the art world. His first works would soon be noticed, and across the Atlantic, America was already welcoming him with its arms, while he, for his part, spread his wings wide. In 1998, Cebarre left Paris for good to settle in the southwest of France, not far from Cahors, in a pretty white stone house, an old farmhouse, lost in the open countryside, as if it had once been. There, at the edge of an oak wood, a spring flows through it. The artist set up his studio where, in an almost monastic silence, Cebarre devotes himself entirely to his work. Since then, his creativity has continued to grow, and all the images he inundates us with emerge like a light motif to show us, to convince us, that somewhere "Another World" exists... CEBARRE'S world. By tirelessly delving into his work, by seeking the infallible method, the artist inevitably ended up finding his world. A suspicious world, some would say, since Cebarre's world, of course, no one has ever set foot in it. It's for kids! It's greenish, like Peter Pan... And where is the man in all this? Cebarre doesn't hesitate. "He's here in front of me, in front of you," he affirms, full of conviction. "It's man who inspires me. It's he who haunts me with his greatness, his weaknesses, his fragility, his immense fragility. Yes," the artist admits, "when looking at my paintings, man looks at man. I would like him to look at himself more and better..."

• Nationality: FRANCE
• Date of birth : 1949
• Artistic domains:
• Groups: Contemporary French Artists