DEBONGNIE

J e a n - Fr a n c o i s

Jean-Francois Debongnie, born 1968, a native of Brussels, has been resident in Singapore since 1989. A self-taught artist, Jean-Francois favours large canvasses on which he explores the themes that inspire him in series such as "Red flowers", "Summer", "Dancing in the wind", "Landscape - China".

In these series Debongnie brings to life flowers - both as iconographic floral signatures which capture the essential qualities of a flower rather than strict botanical representations, and as part of a landscape in fields growing wild amidst ripening grain. Their overall impression is one of movement: wind-blown fields beneath swirling skies of monestial blue. In these series Debongnie favours a palette of late summer hues: ochres and Naples yellow, raw umber and burnt sienna.

The use of Chinese ink adds a dramatic fluidity to all his works. In the Summer series, perhaps the most atmospheric of his paintings, a horizon draws the eye beyond the ripe field to the turbulent stormy skies overhead, and the hint of an impending storm. In another ongoing series - "White Flowers" and "Chinese Landscape", Debongnie has chosen a more muted palette of greys, chalk, cream which both blend and contrast beautifully with the Chinese ink. These predominantly monochromatic works, often verging on the abstract, explore a variety of themes and landscapes.