"Riding the subway in Paris with William Blake" Painting

Born just outside Paris in 1977, at the age of seven Baptiste Ibar immigrated with his family to the U.S. In response to linguistic and environmental difficulties, he started communicating through drawings. While growing up in the confines of NYC’s white suburbs, Baptiste became increasingly fascinated with indigenous people and their art; through his grandfather, a respected French collector, he developed a great knowledge of European paintings and sculptures; and as the son of a physicist, he cultivated genuine respect and curiosity towards the natural world. After obtaining his BFA in Painting at the renowned Rhode Island School of Design in 2000, Baptiste decided to stay in Providence, inspired by its prolific underground art and music scene. Here, surrounded by a healthy and vibrant artistic community, Ibar found the optimal condition to develop his vision and his work. In 2004 he moved to Brooklyn to join his siblings, but after a few years he decided to renovate a barn in Connecticut and move there to better focus on his art and avoid distractions from the City. During the fall of 2004, Baptiste got a call from the director Michel Gondry about doing a series of disaster paintings, which he needed for his film “the science of sleep”. Gondry, who intended on doing the disaster paintings himself, realized he had his hands full (being the writer and director of the film) and remembered being fascinated by the paintings of Ibar. After spending some time on Baptiste’s website, Gondry felt a strong connection to the paintings and decided to ask Ibar to join his team of talented artists doing handmade work for the film. Since the release of the film “The science of sleep” and the Michel Gondry Exhibition at Deitch Projects, which featured the Disasterology Calendar, Baptiste has been busy with one project after the next. He did a large-scale public work commission from an NEA grant for Artspace, New Haven, Titled “Ghost tree” and a solo show at Glenn Horowitz bookseller in East Hampton. He made his European debut in London in 2012 with his show “Before your eyes” Busts, at Viktor Wynd Fine Art in collaboration with Art barter. His paintings are included in private and corporate collections all over the world. Presently, Ibar is working in a new studio in Biarritz, France. contact: cell # 0652514730