Patrick Vogel

Lives and works in Cazals in the Lot, France (). Born 5 April 1953, Troyes in France, living now in a ancient mill in the Lot in the midst of the countryside. Coming from an artistic background but predominantly self-taught, he was attracted very young to the Arts. Admiring the contemporary artists for their creativity and vision, he likes the sculpture without constraints, without dogmas, without frontiers and always questioning. His art is European, from the soul, primal and tribal which suggests with humanity and poetry a way forward towards hope and secret passageways. He nourishes the evolution of plurality, social mixing and hybridations. "One must always re-invent everything to better understand what already exists". Through abstracts, installations or even representations, he researches the ethnicity of all that he undertakes. Influences crossed, affinities and emotions mix subconciously without congealing in the finding of a life. Touching everything, he has no need to position himeself, he keeps a timeless curiosity and a capacity of being astonished and amazed. Transcending different cultures his universe is always changing. He likes to construct, in mythology, objects that are prosaic, common and real. "I sculpt, I dream, I sculpt, I live, I sculpt, I question, I sculpt, I reflect, I sculpt, I create, I sculpt and life is good. So much the better!" His art is made to conspire against the terror, to survive the spiritual cruelty all around. It seems to spring from inspired trial and error and blinding certainties. His objectives for 2006 are based around the theme of "red and black", secular heritage then recent, for the near future. Also the "comma", the small, simple modest punctuation mark which indicates a brief pause to separate and re-assemble everything, tp isolate to oppose and even as an apostrophe, while linking words. His interventions on sites, as well as installations all controlled by a fantastic and mysterious energy are more numerous. Anonymous and scattered, they punctuate his creative work while opening wide the field of possibilities. He does not know yet what he is looking for, but he will not stop looking. Many works are in private collections both in France and abroad. Public commisions: Communes de Montauban, Pomarède, Bressuire, Julienne, St Martial de Nabirat, Conseil Général du Tarn et Garonne. He has been rewarded with numerous distinctions, prizes, press articles and TV interviews.