ahlam1399
10-03-2016, 10:11 PM
LONDON: Reclusive French artist Henri Barande, who hid his paintings and sculptures from the world for half a century, is staging a rare exhibition in London this week -- but maintains his hard-fought air of mystery.
Barande does **t sign his works, **r are they for sale, and when interviewed by AFP at the start of his show at the Saatchi Gallery, he refused to be photographed, recorded, or even divulge the date of his birthday.
Born in Casablanca, in Morocco, raised in Tunisia and a resident of Switzerland, for most of his life Barande was a successful businessman -- with **body in the outside world k**wing his true calling.
He was "discovered" by art critic David Galloway, who first entered his studio in the middle of an industrial zone outside Lausanne in Switzerland 17 years ago.
Barande was in the process of switching to painting, using giant canvasses of 2.5 metres high, while destroying or burying many of his previous works.
He consented to a New York Times article about him in 2000, to coincide with a show at Sotheby´s in Zurich, but has resisted stepping fully into the limelight.
The article said he was 55 years old when he was discovered.
A show in Geneva followed, his first under his real name. "It felt like a compromise," the artist said. A**ther followed in Paris in 2011, and **w London.
Barande never sells his work, giving him a rare artistic independence -- a fact made possible by accruing a large private fortune through selling an employment agency.
Far from selling his sculptures, he destroys many of them.
The past plays an important part of his work, but the London exhibition displays diverse influences, from Gustav Klimt to cave paintings and basketball player Michael Jordan.
Barande says he does **t regret his exposure.
After London -- his first and last exhibition in Britain, which runs to October 31 -- Barande warns he will **t return to the public eye for a**ther four or five years.
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Barande does **t sign his works, **r are they for sale, and when interviewed by AFP at the start of his show at the Saatchi Gallery, he refused to be photographed, recorded, or even divulge the date of his birthday.
Born in Casablanca, in Morocco, raised in Tunisia and a resident of Switzerland, for most of his life Barande was a successful businessman -- with **body in the outside world k**wing his true calling.
He was "discovered" by art critic David Galloway, who first entered his studio in the middle of an industrial zone outside Lausanne in Switzerland 17 years ago.
Barande was in the process of switching to painting, using giant canvasses of 2.5 metres high, while destroying or burying many of his previous works.
He consented to a New York Times article about him in 2000, to coincide with a show at Sotheby´s in Zurich, but has resisted stepping fully into the limelight.
The article said he was 55 years old when he was discovered.
A show in Geneva followed, his first under his real name. "It felt like a compromise," the artist said. A**ther followed in Paris in 2011, and **w London.
Barande never sells his work, giving him a rare artistic independence -- a fact made possible by accruing a large private fortune through selling an employment agency.
Far from selling his sculptures, he destroys many of them.
The past plays an important part of his work, but the London exhibition displays diverse influences, from Gustav Klimt to cave paintings and basketball player Michael Jordan.
Barande says he does **t regret his exposure.
After London -- his first and last exhibition in Britain, which runs to October 31 -- Barande warns he will **t return to the public eye for a**ther four or five years.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/com/YEor/~4/q8mQxi_h_N4
أكثر... (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/com/YEor/~3/q8mQxi_h_N4/154599-French-artist-Henri-Barande-makes-rare-showing-in-London)