It is a singular body of work with paintings peopled with fantastical creatures, works resembling comic book art, glowing and colorful canvases. The Musée de Valence in southeastern France is celebrating the buoyant, largely uplifting works of the contemporary French artist Hervé Di Rosa. The artist’s works are often populated with unique, endearing characters that immediately catch the eye. The show, entitled His Sources, His Demons explores a 40-year long career through some 200 works including paintings, sculptures, drawings, animations and ceramics. The show is being held within the context of the museum’s All Over cycle which disseminates the featured artist’s works throughout the museum to dialogue with the permanent collections. The show includes the diverse periods in the artist’s career ranging from the Figuration Libre (Free Figuration) a French art movement that began in the 1980s and which he co-founded to his Around the World tour and his Time Trial series.

The Free Figuration movement brought along with it a total freedom in the artist’s approach to painting with colors, spontaneity and rapid execution of the works. Around the World came about when Di Rosa renewed with 18th and 19th century artists who did the Grand Tour to perfect their techniques. « The real project, » he would say « is to understand a way of doing things. » He traveled the world to learn traditional craft know how and then create works with the local artists. It began in Bulgaria with Byzantine icon paintings and took him to the painting on zebra skin in Ethiopia and the azuelo tiles of Lisbon amongst others.
©Trish Valienti for The Gourmet Gazette
Until August 28th.
Musée de Valence, art et archéologie
4 Place des Ormeaux
Valence, France
+33 (0)4 75 79 20 80
https://www.museedevalence.fr/en/admission-fees-and-hours