CLAUDIE BASTIDE

Biography

I made numerous exhibitions around the globe in Brussels Belgium, Bari Italy, Barcelona Spain, Berlin Germany, Lisbon Portugal, Geneva Switzerland, San Francisco USA, Paris France and among them at Hay Hill Gallery London in 2011 called: "From Geometry to Lyrical Abstraction". On the same year at the New York Pool Art Fair and lately in 2020 at Galeria O+O in Valencia Spain.

In 2007 I was awarded the gold Prize André Parinaud (Art journalist) for my work;
in 2005 the City prize from Avon-Fontainebleau;
in 2004 the Silver medal for the "Arts-Sciences-Lettres" prize.

I was selected to participate in prestigious art fairs in Paris such as the Salon des Beaux Arts and the Salon d'Automne in 2015, 2016 and 2021.

I participated in several auctions in Drouot, Paris. Two paintings have been acquired by the MOLA ( Museum of Living Art) and many others entered private collections.

Claudie Bastide

Artist Statement

THE FORCE OF THE GESTURE

Before talking about the gesture, let's look at it wider, because, when you think about it, the gesture arrives at the end of the race, it is the witness of our interior vibrations. Our moods, our sorrows, our sufferings accumulate like water retained by a dam. Then comes the overwhelming need to release this energy that flows in continuous like a river. The deep breath and the concentration then help the birth of the gesture.

Carrier of the vital energy of the moment, the gesture has within it the idea of invisible movement and when it freezes on the canvas, it becomes part of the space of time. The elusive then becomes palpable. Sometimes he imposes himself alone as a matter of course and as if he carried within him the said and the unsaid all at the same time. It can be an end in itself and stand by itself like a search for the absolute.

The spontaneous gesture can also correspond to a step, be a means of enter an unknown space revealing a mysterious inner world. Sometimes he finds himself alongside some emerging or affirmed geometric shape as if he wanted to confront his freedom with geometric rigor and thus establish a dialogue between west and east. In this case, the soft or violent colour accompanying it accentuates its intention. At other times, it accompanies unspeakable writings accentuating the mystery of the representation.

This gesture made with large Chinese brushes does not tell a story suggested by a handwriting sign, it is a breath of life, springing and spontaneous, a testimony of the moment, an attempt to extricate from the chaos most of the life. Each gesture is an adventure, the result of which I do not know!

It was from 2017 that paper imposed itself on me with obviousness and intransigence because the choice of paper implies a sure and determined gesture that does not suffer no repentance. India ink then becomes my material for predilection and brushes grow with the size of the paper.

2020-2021 are special years because I am discovering the power of ally gold in black who have a great spiritual charge in a series called: "The Gold Rush "and another series "L’Or des poètes" where I pay tribute to poets that I love.

My work is a continuous search for the harmony of the gesture in its spontaneity and its vital force. It is also the expression of my relationship to time: "I paint for the moment." The spectator often evokes a great vibratory energy, a dance rhythmic, and speaks of deep spiritual aspirations emanating from my paintings.

Claudie Bastide

E-mail: info@hayhillgallery.com