q) What is your earliest art-related memory ?
a)“ The Night watch” by Rembrandt which can be seen at the Rijksmuseum,
q) Who has had the greatest influence on your work?
a)It’s difficult to refer to only one artist .Several painters have had an effect on my work but I would rather say there are particular paintings that have had the most influence .For example : the “Holy Trinity”, a fresco by Masaccio; “The flagellation of Christ” by Piero della Francesca; “ Venus” by Titian,Tintoretto and Veronese ; women’s transpiration in Rubens and Courbet’s works “The origin of the world” by Gustave Courbet ; “The luncheon on the grass” by Manet and his “Olympia” (haven’t you ever noticed that Olympia’s feet smell?) ; “Painting” 1946 by Francis Bacon ; Picasso, Beckmann and many others among contemporary painters .... and music .
q) What are the main tools of your craft?
a)My eye and my hand and taste .Taste is the highest of intelligence – Isidore Ducasse said it-
In a way, our senses are also tools.
q)Is a formal education important ?
a)Yes, formal education is important ; but being self-taught gives freedom from any demagogic proselytism and rigidity of art schools and educational establishments.
q)What is the biggest misconception about art?
a)It’s that art has to do with art . As a matter of fact , art has nothing to do with art .Art is concerned with human being . Art is dangerous .
q)Which is more important in art – concept or execution?
a)Both.But it depends on what we mean by concept.Art is conceptual in itself . It has always been. But I dislike pure concept, the pure idea ; it’s found by removing reality ; it’s an intellectual arrogance and a pompous Duchampian pathology of libido frustration.
As for me , I work with what I see.
But execution is not enough, it must have a meaning.
q)What theme or aesthetic are you most drawn to ?
a)My favorite themes are death, , war , family, sexuality, procreation and erotism.
q)What is your favorite piece of art in your home?
a)They are the small things that I’ve picked up outside : minerals , fossils, skulls, bones, teeth, horns , odd dry plants...
q)If you could collaborate with anyone, living or dead, who would it be?
a)Jesus Christ, Bart Simpson, Spaggiari, Fantomas,Venus, Dr Jekill, Gargantua … ?
q)Which emerging artist do you think more people should know about ?
a)I don’t particularly think of any emerging artists. There are however two french painters who are not very well-known except within the very elitist circle of contemporary art : Vincent Corpet and Stephane Pencreac’h.
q)What has been your greatest achievement to date ?
a)It’s an achievement “in progress” : it’s a question of making a success of one’s death.
It’s an important thing to succeed in.Until it arrives , I would like my work to be found in police files; it would be a great and funny achievement for me .
q)What has been yor biggest roadblock ?
a)I don’t work to decorate middle-class rooms, nor in Duchamp’s style but more with what is dark in human beings; and by criticizing all forms of society, this makes obstacles always present.
q)How do you define success?
a)It depends on what kind of success we are talking about; today, in our society, success is a kind of hysteria and media buzz , an approval by society ; but society has always had bad taste : this kind of success must be avoided.
On the other hand, I would consider it, a personal success , to be approved by those whose thoughts I respect.
q)What will be the name of your autobiography?
a)“ I am not Daniel Buren”
q)What is the best piece of ( art-related) advice you’ve ever been given?
a)Well, Society is quite a good adviser because it tells us what to do or not do . Consequently, I do the opposite.
