Philippe Charles Jacquet
Philippe Charles Jacquet
LES GENS DU CANAL
axelle.com cover: detail from Un soir tranquille 47” x 31½” | opposite: Les robinson 48” x 35½” | above: La relève 31½” x 31½” © 2015 Philippe Charles Jacquet
2 | Entre deux rives 15¾” x 15¾”
L’ancre jetée 23½” x 23½” | 3
4 | L’annexe rouge 23½” x 23½”
La chapelle 48” x 35½” | 5
Le moulin 6 | 47” x 23½”
La petite escale 47” x 23½” | 7
8 | Bain de minuit 31½” x 31½”
Sparks Road 35½” x 47” | 9
10 | La plaine 39” x 39”
Un horizon 15¾” x 15¾” | 11
Le PCJ 325 31½” x 48” | 13
14 | Un point d’interrogation 15¾” x 15¾”
Des marins 47” x 24¾” | 15
16 | Le Hollande 47” x 23½”
Regarder loin 31½” x 31½” | 17
Philippe Charles Jacquet Philippe Charles Jacquet is not simply a painter of landscapes; he is a creator. Jacquet has mastered the ability to combine what is real and what is imagined. As a result, his compositions, heavily inspired by Brittany coasts and estuaries, have an element of the sublime and register deeply with the subconscious. Although he paints sparse landscapes there is something fundamentally pleasing in the surreal, idealized quality of his work. Born in Paris in 1957, Jacquet was trained as an architect at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs. After pursuing his career in architecture, he decided to dedicate himself solely to painting and has been doing so for six years. One can detect his background in architecture in his heavily symmetrical, geometric landscapes. However, he successfully offsets the very calculated appearance of architectural compositions with rich colors and an intriguing variety of surfaces ranging from glass-like water to rusted, flaking hulls of barges. Jacquet takes extra care when approaching the houses that often appear in his paintings. He builds, rather than paints these structures, often composing them on paper and later transferring them onto the backdrop. They effectively serve as reminders of a human presence in these expansive, dream-like landscapes. Jacquet currently lives and works in Pantin, a suburb north of Paris, where he ran an exhibition hall. He has exhibited in solo and group shows throughout France. Notably, he won first prize at the Plastic Arts Exhibition at Melun.
18 |
Au bout du quai 31½” x 31½” | 19
Jacquet is entirely self-taught and his painting technique undoubtedly sets him apart from other artists. Working in gloss paint, an industrial medium, he begins by painting his plywood surface with a uniform base of an off-white color. This medium allows him to achieve remarkably smooth surfaces. Each area of the composition is approached differently; sometimes textures are created using several transparent layers while others are achieved through the use of a razor blade to scratch away at the surface.
20 |
Retour d’école 39” x 39” | 21
The Rance valley is the artist’s favored place of inspiration. Here, he has found a natural alliance between the world of the Land and the world of the Sea. More precisely, he experiences here that complicity that man and Nature have been able to build, shape, and share.
22 |
Un soir tranquille 47” x 31½” | 23
24 | L’attente 15¾” x 15¾”
Echouage 41½” x 31½” | 25
26 | Le rayon vert 39” x 39”
L’ilot 39” x 39” | 27
28 | Quai du Miroir 32½” x 47”
Quai du Refuge 23½” x 23½” | 29
30 | Les gens du canal 35½” x 47”
32 | Le rendez-vous 31½” x 48”
L’escale 43” x 24¾” | 33
34 | La maison du canal 39” x 39”
Grande marée 31½” x 47” | 35
36 | Un temps arrêté 23½” x 23½”
above: Sous la neige 31½” x 31½” | back cover: Les échoués 48” x 35½”
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