Patrick Peltier REBIRTH
Prehistoric/ancient man, drawing on cave walls, intended/aimed to speak about something more essential and mysterious than just to show decorations of his home: he spoke with Nature. Already then, in those figures, created before painting appeared, there was a certain dialogue between the Universe and the Artist. And this dialogue brought joy and satisfaction. Although it cannot be compared, but when 20,000 years later, Fra Angelico painted walls of his monastery, his purpose was bigger than just making illustrations of the New Testament! He asked for help from the Almighty, and when he returned to his monk cell, he felt the presence of God and similar to his ancestor of the prehistoric era, he felt satisfaction from his own work. And he did it! The same thing happens with art, which proves itself powerful! Undoubtedly, it is necessary to make efforts to share these feelings: to see, one has to be ready to open eyes in order to see, so the artist shows us the reality that we would not have seen without him. Paul Klee mentioned once: “Art does not represent the visible, but it makes it visible.”
Not all the artists in this world see reasons to be happy as it could’ve been in the days of Fra Angelico or in the Palaeolithic times. This type of an artist is a rarity, but Patrick Peltier is an exception! I feel it when I’m looking at his work. Patrick Peltier watches and reflects in his work something that most of us do not perceive, but what we all dream about: peace, balance and happiness. I draw your attention – we are not talking about the illusory, poetic or, less likely, about the artist’s conceptual approach! There is no abstraction in his work. What he views is real. It is as real as a stone block or a piece of iron. P. Peltier undoubtedly leads us further and deeper. This is the biggest, fundamental and at the same time also a visible mystery that surrounds us and it is found everywhere – the mystery of matter (substance). “The deeper the real materialist plunges into the matter, the more he exalts spirituality” Georges Braque.
Yes, the matter is a great mystery. That mystery which is absolutely simple, but at the same time, it is extremely difficult to explain although it is in front of our eyes. The definition of a matter itself indicates that it is a reality, and thus it’s the essence of the Universe. How can we not to talk about it, if everyting that surrounds us speaks about the matter? The only question is – how to say? In their turn, words, being something intangible, are the complete opposite! I’m also now looking for the right words! Patrick Peltier can help us to experience the mystery of matter, as how, for example, Mark Rothko managed to bring us closer to the cognition/understanding of the mystery of colour. Both artists intimately and deeply feel the essence of the case and give us the opportunity to share these feelings!
And yet, if you start thinking, the artist’s task is extremely difficult! Try, in the process of walking, to pick up an ordinary, dirty rock. You need only ten seconds to look at it and to realize that it is trivial and unimpressive. The artist will waste his efforts attempting to explain you that you are wrong. In best case, you will take him as a poet, but still you won’t see anything! However this rock can be a source of delight: the hand that holds it, fingers that feel it, and the eyes that see it – they all are the matter as well. Holding a simple piece of this world, you feel the joy of life and enjoy the fact of your own existence in this magical world… It is exactly an existing reality what conceals the world’s miracle in itself. Therefore, in order for you to discover the mystery of the rock, you have to work on it. However, there is also a risk in this case and it is for us to start creating, forgetting about the matter!
Do not stop at the obvious. Otherwise, in the statue of “David” by Michelangelo, we will see either a wonderful sculpture or masterly crafted artwork. However, the statue of David’s greatest value is a confirmation of the fact that matter is based on mind/conscious. That is what the artist wanted us to focus on! The same can be said about the painting by Malevich “White square on a white background.” Evasion of shapes and images in order to express the infinity would not help the viewer. This method, which can be referred to metaphysics, requires the author’s explanations. This artist’s ‘speech’ fully becomes a part of his art work. And this is the biggest problem for the artist: the clearer (more obvious) is an artistic work, the deeper it conceals the artist’s real intention.
Patrick Peltier offers a solution – to get interested only in the Universe, to feel it, to show it the way he views it, and to cut off unnecessary details in the process of display by removing parts that might prevent us from getting to the essence – to connect and oppose and do not mix the obvious things: the material and Man. There is dialectics of opposites – the Universe and Man. Combining raw stone with polished wood, cement and paint, thoughtful line with wreathed mass, balance with occasion, geometry and poetry and many other oppositions (e.g.., matter and mind – and so on) P. Peltier shows that It unites them: succession, precision and unity! Materials are less valuable – a bent piece of metal, painted concrete or a piece of plastic – they all when connected allocate their overall beauty.
For Patrick Peltier it is important to establish a set/unity of human and material, rather than confront them. This is his artistic particularity. Mystery, which he reveals to us, is not a source of anxiety. There is no pressure as well as anything scaring or threatening in what he represents to us. In P. Pelter’s art work you wouldn’t find anything bloody, black, sharp, dangerous, sad … He will never doubt, confront, deny … He’s able to see the hidden harmony. He celebrates the inner mystery and the stillness of the material. Patrick Peltier gives us the opportunity, what is a rare ability, to experience happiness of living. Therefore, it is worth to appreciate his work and follow him. Patrick Peltier is a happy man!
Michelle Dalmazo
The artist’s Patrick Peltier official website:
http://www.patrickpeltier.com/web_actualites_artiste.php?languevisiteur=francais&pourvoirsousmenu=actualites
