"Africa" Painting

CYRIL PIENON

A military father, many family assignments overseas and in Africa, Dakar, Martinique and Tahiti, have left him with a taste for travel and a strong desire to play with colours and contrasts. Cyril Piénon, now living in Brittany, wanted to share artistic endeavours with his wife, an excellent designer. After studying sport, this high-level amateur cyclist dived into painting around 2005 on a bit of a whim. “My first painting was not satisfying, but with the second, which wasn’t half bad, I had a stroke of luck. During the week, some people who were stopping by the house wanted to buy it. That made me want to keep going. Then, following a trade exhibition, I was contacted to exhibit at the media library in Beignon.” Partial to colours, he paints abstract paintings, incorporating volume and texture thanks to his impasto techniques, a resolutely contemporary painting style. He paints to music because it fuels his inspiration and serves as a catalyst.

For this self-taught artist, acrylic paint applied with brushes and knives is the technique that suits him best because it has the advantage of drying quickly: “To obtain the shades that I wanted, I needed several layers; it dries quickly which allows me to move on with my work instinctively without having it drag on.”

Cyril Piénon likes to suggest things rather than impose them. Each of his paintings is an adventure which takes shape in the moment.