ANNE-CHRISTINE RODA
PORTRAITS
Anne- Christine Roda is a French artist born in 1974, who defines a highly interpretation of the portrait: in her work the painting is entirely subjugated to the portrayal of man’s fragility. Her choice of subject speaks directly to our everyday lives.
«For a long time my choice of models was a matter of luck: mostly friends of friends, vague aquaitances - I chose them on the basis of a particular detail such as an attitude or an expression that struck me and intrigued me. Once selected, I left them free to pose as they like, naked or not, and in the position they chose to adopt, all of this told me a lot about them in a way that would have been lost if I had given them specific guidance on how to pose. I am happy to reveal whatever people chose to offer me.
However, more recently I started working on small series of paintings for which I chose to be more discret. For this new approach it is essential to work with models that I know well and whith whom I feel a real complicity.»
"Ruby", óleo sobre madera / oil on wood, 81 x 116 cm., 2017. Colección privada / Private Collection
"Ruby" (detalle / detail)
"Fijación / Attachment III", óleo sobre madera / oil on wood, 40 x 40 cm., 2017
"Bagno II", óleo sobre panel / oil on panel, 50 x 90 cm., 2018. Colección privada / Private Collection
"Marion", óleo sobre lienzo / oil on canvas, 97 x 130 cm., 2013
"Marie", óleo sobre lienzo / oil on canvas, 98 x 170 cm., 2016
"Baño / Bathroom II", óleo sobre panel / oil on panel, 40 x 60 cm., 2018. Colección privada / Private Collection
"Nadine", óleo sobre lienzo / oil on canvas, 89 x 116 cm., 2014. Colección privada / Private Collection
"Las manos de Dana / Dana's Hands", óleo sobre madera / oil on wood, 40 x 40 cm., 2017.
Colección privada / Private Collection
"Jean-Michel", óleo sobre lienzo / oil on canvas, 80 x 100 cm., 2012
"Sevres - Babylone", óleo sobre lienzo / oil on canvas, 146 x 114 cm., 2017.
Colección privada / Private Collection
Anne-Christine con su obra / with her work "Herve"
"Herve", óleo sobre lienzo / oil on canvas, 90 x 116 cm., 2012
"Anwen I", óleo sobre lienzo / oil on canvas, 97 x 130 cm., 2015. Colección privada / Private Collection
«The absence of a studied pose or of a context focus all the attention on what impresses me about those people: I investigate their soul but, at the same time, in some ways, I also explore my own soul.
That's what I've tried to do with women in my work: questioning their bodies, I seek, not only to achieve an aesthetic portrayal, but also an expression of the spiritual dimension. My latest work reveal, without any doubt, more about me than they do about my models.»
"Bagno I", óleo sobre panel / oil on panel, 65 x 101 cm., 2018
"Stephanie", óleo sobre madera / oil on wood, 89 x 116 cm., 2014. Colección privada / Private Collection
It was the dawn of photography amongst other things that heralded the decline of the painted portrait and yet it is from a photograph that Anne-Christine works, ultimate proof that while digging deep into the traditions of her art form she distances herself from this very tradition in seeking a naked rawness in her representations.
The artist’s visual interpretation of her subject, the viewer’s gaze on the work of art, that questions the representation of reality- when the painting becomes both a reflection and a fragment of humanity.
"Sylvain", óleo sobre lienzo / oil on canvas, 80 X 120 cm., 2014
"Dana", óleo sobre madera / oil on wood, 40 x 40 cm., 2017
«Many years of experience as a painting resotrer let me to analyze a great number of different styles and techniques from all eras of painting, this has nourished me and inspired my own particular pictorial style, in the end.
I paing on colored backgrounds, mostly brown, starting with the bare minimum of drawing outlines. Too many details tends to paralyze me and prevent me from facing and treating the subject in its entirety. I approach my painting like a sculptor would, starting from the dark areas, the trying to perfect the whole thing, refining gradually each layer of paint until the details emerge and the light comes to the surface. Nothing is really fixed in this phase of work: and eye can change many times before finding his correct place; then, it comes the turning point in which the subject is really caught.»
"Gaelle I", óleo sobre lienzo / oil on canvas, 130 x 90 cm., 2019
«Cuando elijo un modelo, su personalidad será decisiva, nunca me anticipo a mi sesión fotográfica: me dejo guiar por el encuentro, por lo que el modelo me dará al respecto y lo que intentaré arreglar. Hay algo casi mágico, un estado de ánimo, una emoción, un estado mental. Todo esto ocurrirá durante la sesión y luego me dará algo para pintar.
Con Gaelle, excepcionalmente habíamos estado al aire libre, hacía un calor terrible y estábamos haciendo detalles corporales en el agua: las piernas y las manos. Le encanta el agua y se sentía bien con esa agua fresca. Mientras yo cambiaba de lentes ella se tumbó completamente en el agua... es ese instante el que finalmente elegí. Ella ni siquiera me vio sacarle una foto en ese momento.»
"Gaelle I" (detalle / detail)
«When I choose a model, their personality will be decisive, I never anticipate my shooting, I let myself be guided by the encounter, by what the model will give me about it and that I will try to fix. There is something almost magical, a mood, an emotion, a state of mind, all this will happen during the session and then give me something to paint.
With Gaelle, exceptionally we had been outdoors, it was terribly hot and we were doing body details in the water, legs, and hands. She loves water and felt good in this fresh water. While I was changing lenses she laid down completely in the water… it’s that moment I finally chose, she didn’t even see me take a picture of her at that moment.»
"Palais Royal", óleo sobre lienzo / oil on canvas, 146 x 114 cm., 2017. Colección privada / Private Collection
"Caillou, ciseau, papier / Piedra, papel, tijera / Rock-paper-scissors"
Óleo sobre madera / oil on wood, 75 x 50 cm., 2018
«There are so many artists (painters, sculptors and photographers) that I appreciate and admire. But even so, I don't think that it's interesting to paint "in the style of...": painting is something too much personal to be not genuine and reflect ourselves. It is not an artist's particular style but rather something in a particualr approach that resonates within me. It's in this sense that in my opinion, for example, the work of Caravaggio inspired me in the way he used ordinary people from the street as models to represent tha most dignified and noble figures. And in the same way, the mastery of the light of Carvaggio, his emotions and his technique are as an echo in my own approach to painting.»
"Manya IV", óleo sobre madera / oil on wood, 70 x 70 xm., 2018
Since 2013, she has exhibited in Galleries (France, Geneva, Munich), Art Centres (in France), Art Fairs (Paris, Strasbourg, Monaco) and Museums (National Portrait Gallery in London and Edinburgh, Ulster Museum in Belfast, Meam in Barcelona, Wausau Museum in Wisconsin). In 2015, she participated to the BP Portrait Award. Her paintings are part of collections in France, Switzerland, Germany, UK, United States, Hong Kong, etc.
* Fuentes / Sources:
* Website
* Entrevista a 5 artistas de Poetsartists: Una tribo a la que llamar tuya /
Poetsartists 5 Artists Interview: A tribe to call your own. Por / by Marie Larkin. En / in Beautiful Bizarre
* Perfil y obras / Profile and works. Museum of art
* Entrevista en / Interview in Hyperrealism Magazine, Nº2, Mar., 2018
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