Gene Barbe

Talking painting with Gene Barbe means poetry. There is this Paul Eluard line : “l’amour c’est l’homme inachevé” - love is man incomplete. Gene Barbe’s paintings celebrate timeless unity, accepting imperfection, embracing body and spirit undivided, moving through natural elements, fighting for freedom. He expresses an instinctive and humble contact with life, generously traveling, gently questioning. By considering all possible origines and destinations that someone may encounter, he tries to reach out for a universal presence.That line from Paul Eluard is from a poem called “à perte de vue dans le sens de mon corps”
- as far as my eyes can see through the way of my body - from a book called “la vie immédiate” - the immediate life.
Colours, emotions, textures, figurative and abstract collide in a honest effort for harmony beyond art.
Figures emerge from hills, cities, doubts and friendship.
Figures with soul, beyond identity, witnessing ageless compassion. The incomplete elements in Gene Barbe’s paintings are room for hope.

Gene Barbe is born in North London in 1975. His autodidactic journey brought him to painting in the early 2000s. He mostly paints large formats on canvas, but also landscapes in smaller sizes. He has shown paintings in the US, Mexico, London, Paris, Barcelona… and has also painted in those different places. He now lives in the South West of France.

2018
BIENNALE 109 in Paris 11th (spring)

2017
GRAVITATIONS show - Ostal Cazes, La Livinière, France
Article in magazine ART DANS L'AIR
GALERIE ART 4 in Caen, France

2016
GALERIE ART 4 in Caen, France
ART UP! In Rouen - art fair, France
RECONCILIATIONS show - Espace13, Mur De Barrez, France
DISTANCES show at Croissy-sur-Seine, France

2015
INVITATIONS show at Caunes-Minervois, France
Glen Moriwaki WORKSHOP
EXTRACTIONS show, Luxembourg
Show at LIVE WORMS - SAN FRANCISCO
Setting up studio in Black Mountains, France

2014
Art Residency BARCELONA
Glen Moriwaki WORKSHOP
Show at LIVE WORMS - SAN FRANCISCO
PULSART Le Mans - art fair, France
Art Residency ANTIBES

2013
Article in magazine&book VIVRE L'ART
Glen Moriwaki WORKSHOP
Show at LIVE WORMS - SAN FRANCISCO
PULSART Le Mans - art fair, France

2012
Article in London magazine PLECTRUM
Glen Moriwaki WORKSHOP
Painting for novel book cover MUDSHARKS
First paper book

2011
Meets Kevin Brown

2002
First paintings