Marc Parmentier
Marc Parmentier, from darkness to color
After a good year of uncertainty, my work has taken two very different directions, which end up being complementary.
On the one hand the rigors of construction, the other the whim of chance.
On the one hand the value, on the other hand the color.
As if the painter is split in two, separating its knowledge, to allow him each time to suggest instead of show.
The series « Chiaroscuro »
In this series, through a great economy of means, are provoked mixed feelings and different for each of us. We can find both the seduction of the night, the dangers involved. It also found a whole piece of our cultural history marked by the absence of color in film and photography before the war. It floats in the air like a perfume of nostalgia.
A theme that explores the world of night
The dominant theme is the spectacle, be it music, particularly through jazz, or dance.
But other themes have emerged over time.
As the celebration of the female body in its nocturnal nakedness. Nudes are more suggested than revealed by the play of light, giving the viewer the freedom to imagine the rest.
Like hand games. They unite, or they play a musical instrument, the hands speak to the heart, sometimes much more than faces.
A technique that seeks simplicity
The base is kept smooth, reflecting only the grain of the material used: paper, cotton or linen. The background is uniformly painted black.
The bright spots (as limited as possible), are painted white, combined with shades of gray to give depth.
Occasionally, a patch of color is used to contrast, emphasize the subjects by their own meaning. The red of the passion is systematically associated with two basic colors in the paintings of the tango.
The series < Libercolor >
This series resulted in its unfinished side and spontaneous acceptance of the intervention of chance. It also offers full freedom of interpretation to the viewer, since it is still suggested, not shown. This time he will not be searching for this freedom in the dark side but will look for it munching life.
A theme that reflects the movement
The chosen subjects are sports, dance, music, and more generally events that reflect life in that it contains freedom, as in his tragic side.
The base is worked with a lot of material
When the work is not done on watercolor paper, the support is often worked on by analogy to a wall bracket, with its random roughness and raw edge. A result that finds its roots in prehistoric caves paintings, but also in the work of abstract expressionists of the 20th century.
The background staining is done by spraying
The paint used is extremely fluid.
The splashes of paint, made by blowing on the puddle of paint, immediately evoke the movement by the direct transcription of breath they reveal: the traces of projections and drops on the edges of the composition.
The random mixture of color, sometimes using the glitter of walnut stain, completes the effect, which create iridescence.
The characters are more suggested than shown
More than the accuracy of the representation, the emphasis is on the suggestion of movement, leaving the reflected gestures that caused the marking. Work with a knife is often used; the texture is thick in contrast with the fluid shades in the background, while maintaining the harmony of color. The rough and unfinished side answers to the base work.