Zone refuge Painting

Jean-François Vereecke is a contemporary painter inspired by the lights of Flanders and the countries of northern Europe, who has developed a unique artistic signature, mixing influences and techniques to create rich and profound works. Born in 1971 in Dunkirk (a city in the north of France, known for its battle during World War II which inspired Christopher Nolan's 2017 film Dunkirk), he began painting at an early age, drawing his inspiration from the landscapes and lights of his childhood in Flanders. The works from this period are reminiscent of 17th century Dutch painting. Later on, the encounters with French artists such as Arthur Van Hecke, Georges Laporte and Eugène Leroy, with the gallery owner Georges Raphael Mischkind, will change his career. The 90s were a succession of periods of maturation leading to a major exhibition in Lille in 1999, marking a major turning point in his career as a painter. The red thread was drawn and the artist was resolutely inscribing himself in a project finding his place in contemporary art. At that time, the work was enriched by abstract canvases or at the limits of abstraction. Composed of rich colors and materials reminiscent of the COBRA group in certain aspects, the paintings were composed with lyrical abstraction or contemporary realism. However, the base, the foundations and the signature were always there. The light, the colors, the construction, the materials, all these influences from the northern lands impregnated these new creations. These were now exhibited in galleries in France (Galeries Septentrion, in Marcq-en-Barœul, Galerie de l'Ecusson in Montpellier...) and then, from 2004, abroad (Shanghai, New-York, Madrid...). Subsequently, Jean-François Vereecke's works were shown at numerous contemporary art fairs (The Hague, Singapore, New York, Karlsruhe, Luxembourg), notably with the Gaudi Gallery in Madrid. The move to the vast studio called "du sain plaisir", allowed him to deploy new techniques and to attack larger formats (like "par dessus les toits" 4,20m*2m). The most recent works mix oil on canvas, mixed techniques on wood or sculptures. Some of them question the observer on the place of the man in an environment which exceeds him. Sometimes we find barely perceptible characters, merging with landscapes immersed in the atmosphere of the northern lands. Others invite reflection on the complex path of existence or simply to let go for a pure emotion stimulated by the harmony of a composition."