Colour Intensity – Paintings by Brice Guilbert
It’s important to revisit past series by artists to evaluate their longevity and timelessness. Brice Guilbert stands out with his unique use of texture and colour. His paintings, characterised by thick layers and areas of intense colour, immediately draw the viewer in. Although his newer works are more structured, showcasing volcanic or erupting forms, his earlier abstract pieces are just as stunning and captivating, with an added element of mystery.
Guilbert is a French artist with Creole roots who uses a variety of mediums, including drawing and music, to convey his personal and intimate experiences. His paintings are abstract and heavily layered, capturing memories of the volcanic landscape of his childhood home on La Réunion. He works on one painting at a time, exploring the relationship between light and darkness, representation and projection.
Guilbert’s paintings are created through the accumulation of gestures and materials, using a heat gun and homemade oil bars to soften and mould the paint into dense, radiant marks. He lives in Brussels but remains fascinated by the eruption of the Piton de la Fournaise, the volcano on La Réunion, and paints in reverence to its intensity. By working with elements of air and fire, he mimics the process of magma seeping into fissures before solidifying into basalt.
As a self-taught musician, Brice Guilbert draws parallels between the meditative process of painting and the protracted reverberations of his guitar. He varies each painting with different colour palettes, working at different speeds, to reflect the diversity of nature and evoke an emotional response in the viewer. Through his paintings and music, Brice Guilbert conveys a deeply personal connection to his Creole roots and the volcanic landscape of his childhood home. Here is a collection of works from his 2018 ‘Takamaka’ series, with newer pieces available for viewing on his website, which is linked below.
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