Philippe Pastor

www.philippe-pastor.com

Discover “ Burned Trees ” sculptures by Philippe PASTOR, emblematic of the destruction of the forest and the Videos “ Burned Trees. ”
“I saw the fire burning down the mountain. I cannot resign myself to such destruction and I don’t want to forget it. Looking at such mutilated nature, I am horrified and feel a deep feeling of rebellion towards the authors of this disfigurement… This scene of desolation is nothing but a mirror of our society.” Philippe PASTOR
For its art and environmental initiative, the United Nations Environment Program, with the collaboration of The Natural World Museum in San Francisco, has decided to house a permanent exhibition of forty "Burned Trees" by the artist Philippe PASTOR at their head office in Nairobi, Kenya, from March 31, 2006 to present.
The decision of the United Nations Environment Program to expose forty of Philippe Pastor’s Burned Trees at its head office in Nairobi is a true recognition of his work but also of the values and the message of the artist…

Biography

Philippe PASTOR
Born 1961
Lives and works in Monaco
Technique: pigments, earth, water and fire

He is a prolific self-taught artist who works with various techniques, the essential basis of which is pigment applied to paper. The drawing is then glued to a canvas.

He has exhibited his work in Monaco, France, Italy, Rumania, Belgium, China and the United States. In 2007, he took part in the Venice Biennial in Italy, where he presented his recent series of works entitled “The Bulls”. He presents these powerful animals interspersed with politically incorrect messages portraying the artist’s lucid outlook on today’s society, his outlook on the world, his view of himself. The animal is positioned as if it was an observer of what the artist calls “the human drama”, as if it was a self-portrait.

Background. One day, he changed his life, his lifestyle and his friends and then his painting developed of its own accord. Painting is one of the qualities he had within him but which he had never developed. One morning he began drawing, drawing like he did when he was a child. He began to want to debate with colours and move forward. His painting transcribes what he sees. His inspiration comes from the street, from people, from hopelessness, from beauty, from the problems people have communicating, everything that can’t be said out loud but which we think so strongly and silently… All this drove him to start painting. All this is his inspiration. To be is more important to him than to appear.

Techniques. He uses a variety of techniques. He uses pieces of wood or plaster in the same way he uses crumpled paper or cement, but essentially pigments from all over the world. The painter mixes his colours instinctively, without measuring or dosing. He works quickly but not hastily. He welcomes the appearance of colour with a smile, a small miracle. Here again, he toys with the joys of chance. His mixtures based on natural pigments reserve a host of surprises. From green minerals, he makes a rich violet. And if a deep sea-blue appears, he makes the most of the opportunity. Similarly, he takes charge of accidents: colours, stains or cracks. When it comes to painting, his gestures are sensual. Pastor spreads the colour, sponges it, strokes it. He gets it all over his fingers, dabs it gently with a wet brush or a make-do sponge of kitchen paper. The dribbling matter is daubed generously. From this context, yet another imprint is born.

When he paints, it is the only time he feels he is living in the present time, a moment of truth.

Inspiration. Philippe PASTOR’s work is based on the tension between appearing and being. His drawings are inspired by daily life and the things he sees around him. His series are always inspired by the people he meets at a certain time in his life.

He expresses his feelings and his points of view through a host of different characters, faces and bodies, souls that are destroyed and scattered, which sometimes symbolise death and sometimes joy. These anonymous people, who he has encountered in the street or the classy alcoholics sitting at a café terrace in Saint-Tropez are only slightly characterised. At the most, one can guess at a piece of jewellery, a feminine hairstyle, a way of holding oneself.

He adds carton, earth or tar which is then liquefied and scattered, more or less violently, allowing a group of primary forms to suddenly appear. His aim is to express in his work a strong emotion captured in an instant.

The Burned Trees. Just like his paintings, inspired by daily life and a chaotic vision of our world, the Burned Trees (“Arbres Brûlés”), emblems of the forest being destroyed, reflect his personal view of life. Full of sap and beauty, it can easily fade into artifice and self-destruction. The burned bark echoes the fire that burns the eyes of anyone who – in some of the artist’s canvases – “cannot see”, since they are more concerned by their own appearance.

These sculptures were created using burned tree trunks from the Garde Freinet forest in the Var county in Southern France, which burned in the summer of 2003 during the forest fires caused by negligence or by criminal deeds. These sculptures lend a second life to the tall, burned trees, some of which had reached the respectable age of a hundred years. In this artistic work, the artist expresses his anger and makes the world aware of the damage caused by forest fires and the necessity of preserving our natural resources.

Philippe PASTOR’s art is expressed in different sizes and colours. He has exhibited his work in Africa, Asia, Europe and the United States. In 2006, he dedicated 40 "Burned Tree" to the United Nations’ Environment programme and they are on permanent exhibition at the UNEP Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. To coincide with the launch of the PNUE’s Plant for the Planet campaign - whose ambition is to plant a thousand million trees to fight climate change on a local level – the artist and the Organisation confirmed their partnership. In Monaco, his birthplace, he expresses his philanthropic side through his Art and Environment association, the purpose of which is to make people aware of environmental problems through art.

« My aim is to be happy with my paintings… and to put over certain messages in a society where communicating is difficult. But above, my aim is to be happy… to want to be happy… outside the usual standards, the usual ways…”

Interview with Philippe Pastor

What urged to you to paint?

One day I changed my life, my way of life, my frequentations, and usual places and the painting came along all by itself. I believe that painting is one of the qualities of which I had in me but which I had never developed. One beautiful morning I began drawing, drawing as I drew when I was a child. I began wanting to experiment with the colours and to advance.

From where comes your inspiration?

It comes from the street, people, misfortune, despair, beauty, and communication problems between people. All that we do not manage to say out loud and that we think under our breath. It is all this which urges me to paint, all of this is my inspiration. For me and in my work the being is more important than the seeming .

What technique do you use?

I use all the techniques. I use a piece of wood as I would use plaster, as I use creased paper, or cement but essentially pigments, coming from four corners of the world. These pigments, I mix them with glues. I spent a lot of time to find glues which corresponded to my mixture of pigments. They are my mixtures, my material. My bases of colour , it is all that I find in nature. Then I reproduce in my studio what I saw, all this in a grand spontaneity, at high speed. You know, the big problem is that in life, we think all the time. There, while painting, it is the only moment when I can say that I lived in the present moment, a true moment, when I paint directly.

What brings you to painting? What is your purpose?

The purpose it is to be happy with my painting and to get certain messages across. As with my trees, my sculptures «The Burned Trees," it is my message of revolt against those who commit arson. My message of hope is also to sensitise a larger public. It also is to work with organizations such as the United Nations and to develop projects. My work is meant to convey certain messages in society where the communication is difficult. But above all, my purpose is to be happy, to want to be happy.

Fondation Valerio Riva, International Centre for Art and Culture, Venise, " Pastor"

Galerie Soardi, Ancien Atelier de Matisse, Nice, “Itinerant Exhibition”

Tribute to the Biennale of VenicePhotos: François Fernandez et Didier Gicquel. Editor Monaco Modern Art. In English, 96 pages in colour, 300 x 400 cm, paperback

Sulle Vie di Damasco, Fondazione Valerio Riva, curator Duccio Trombadori. Editor Christian Maretti. Group Exhibition Biennale of Venice. In Italian, pages in colour, 240 x 170 cm, paperback

“Philippe PASTOR” a cura di Duccio Trobadori, in French, English and Italian, for the exhibition “The strange cheerfulness of a sad cansun” Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art of San Marino, Italy. Text by Duccio Tromabori. Photos: François Fernandez et Didier Gicquel , Editor Christian Maretti, 176 pages, 129 images in couleur, hardback

“Nutrirsi con l’Arte, or Feeding on Art,” Museum of Antiquity, Turin, in Italian and English Text by Barb Giovanna, Verso l’Arte Editions, Group Exhibition which included: Valerio Adami, Luca Alinari, Gae Aulenti, Ferdinand Botero, Maria Cristina Carlini, Mario Ceroli, Jean Michel Folon, Roberto Magris, Ugo Nespolo, Philippe Pastor, and Paolo Portoghesi paperback

“ Les Nouveux Guerriers or The New Warriors” in French and English. Text by Damien Sausset. Photos: François Fernandez et Didier Gicquel 24 colour images in A3 size magazine format

Philippe Pastor “ Recent works/Oeuvres Récentes,” in English and French Text: Damien Sausset. Photos: François Fernandez et Didier Gicquel
21 colour images in paperback

“Les Couples de Saint-Tropez or Saint-Tropez Couples,” Image titles in French by Nadine Bauer. Photos : François Fernandez, 56 colour images in paperback