Damien Cabanes

Everything is merely a question of playing with colour. It is painted on, flattened down, added to, spread out but without mixing the colours too much, played with in quick, spontaneous strokes until the very essence of the work has been achieved. At first glance, Damien Cabanes’ painting is abstract. His gesture is clear and quick, taking a minimalistic approach to repeated patterns, then little by little figurative work edges into the series of portraits and self-portraits, leading to work on volume in the early 1990s. Since then, the various practices have overlapped throughout the periods, with the only common thread being colour. For the past ten years or so, the artist has been taking inspiration from his immediate surroundings (landscapes, attitudes, animals...) and, currently, flowers.

For Damien Cabanes, passing from one subject to the next is only a question of painting. Focusing on a shape, on the desire to obliterate it, work on it, shatter it. With this in mind, flowers are an ideal subject, as they provide endless combinations of shape and colour. The motif is therefore chosen not only for its story but also for its pictorial possibilities. It is the search for beauty above all else. In the studio, there are flowers at various stages of maturity. They flourish and they transform without ever repeating themselves, composing a different bouquet over and over. Even withered, the painter still takes great interest in them.

Damien Cabanes can spend several weeks studying the same specimens without ever growing weary of them. At first, the colours are bright, then they fade little by little by a quarter or half a shade, becoming more and more subtle. The observing eye of the painter does not miss any of these changes, even the very slightest difference. He represents stability, choosing a fixed point from where he observes the course of time. This is where a connection with approaches witnessed in the past can be seen, especially those practised by the Impressionist painters. Our thoughts turn to Monet, who so often persevered in painting one single motif. We think of The Poplars series of paintings, which came after The Haystacks and before Rouen Cathedral, not to mention The Water Lilies of course. Damien Cabanes’ paintings follow a similar approach.

At the Domain, the painter rolls his paper out onto the ground. On a footpath or on the grass, he sets himself up inside the landscape and his paintbrush then portrays on the surface everything that can be found underneath, such as gravel and other pieces of soil. The painting represents the entire scene: flowers in full bloom, the materials used and the artist’s body through his gestures. Everything about this approach is guided by feelings. To Damien Cabanes, painting comes as naturally as breathing as he embraces the energy of all living beings.

As a former student of the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Damien Cabanes has had a successful career spanning more than forty years now, choosing to focus his artistic approach on painting, sculpture and drawing. He also participates in experimental cinema festivals on a regular basis. Whichever medium he chooses, Damien Cabanes completely devotes himself to it.

He is keen on music, literature and also the principles of philosophy which he has embraced, such as the courage that is required in his quest for the truth, a temperate nature to be able to control his passions and his renouncement of an easy life.

Damien Cabanes is represented by the Éric Dupont Gallery in Paris.