Nomad VII Painting

Armand Campi has been painting for almost half a century. Over the years he has expressed a vast range of styles, from surrealism in his early days, to abstract expressionism in the 1980s, to his current style that sums up faint reminiscences of the old masters such as Goya, Moreau and Turner. Armand Campi was born in France and raised in Cuba. He returned to Europe to live in Spain and France. At the age of 16 Campi ventured out on his own to Paris. It was the late 1950s, the decade of existentialism, a school of thought that would strongly influence his art and thinking throughout his life. During his stay in Paris, Campi took drawing lessons at the art school 'La Grande Chaumière' in Montparnasse. It was the only art course he ever took. Campi is entirely self-taught and already at age seventeen he participated in a group exhibition at the Galerie Lambert in Paris. This was to be the first of many exhibitions in Europe. 'Ever since I was a child I was surrounded by art and books on art history. My paintings are full of very slight allusions to and quotes from art history. People who see my paintings recognize this. These allusions and archetypes are part of our culture, our cultural genes.' Armand Campi