Who is Daniel Reymann ?

Daniel Reymann is a French painter in search of a universal painting, which could speak to everyone. For several years, he has been painting pictures where color holds a dominant place and where it makes the motif superfluous. Minimalism, spontaneity and chance are at the heart of Daniel Reymann's work ...
 

WHEN DID YOUR PASSION FOR PAINTING BEGIN?

“As far as I can remember, the graphic and plastic arts have always been part of my life. I have always liked the surprising shapes and the shimmering colors. As a child, I spent hours watching the reflections of light in a glass of water. I marveled at the shape of the coffee stains on the table, their delicate gradations. I was looking for dragons and knights in the patterns of the indefinitely shaped tiles. When I was around 12, my grandfather, a cabinetmaker, gave me the operational basics of drawing. He explained to me that you have to use the pencil in all its possibilities: from the lightest to the darkest. I did not think about it. I thought the pencil left only a mark that could easily be erased. This revelation marked me for life. Later, I was phrased this more broadly: there is no art without contrast; I kept this information preciously in the back of my mind. "
 

DANIEL REYMANN, EXCEPT YOUR GRANDFATHER, IS THERE ANYONE ELSE WHO INTRODUCED YOU TO ART?

“In particular my professor of Visual Arts from the Ecole Normale who introduced us to Art and contemporary art in particular: color theory, golden rule, oil painting and especially the sensations that accompany this practice: the smell of Casé-arti, oil, essences, the grain of the canvas, the softness of sable hair brushes, a whole world that flatters the sensations. She pointed out to me that all my intuitive compositions obeyed the golden rule. Since that day, I know that I have the freedom to do without building.
 

"YOU DIDN'T BEGIN YOUR CAREER AS A PAINTER, FOR WHAT REASON?“

I should have opted for Fine Arts, as my plastic arts teacher encouraged me, but I did not come out of an environment where it was well seen to be involved in an uncertain future. It was then that I chose a scientific field which should offer me a more secure future. Finally, I found myself a teacher and then a school teacher to teach French as a second language. I regret nothing. I was able to start a beautiful family and have time to paint, to sculpt or even to make music. It was a period as rich as my passion for painting and filled my life as a man and artist. "
 

A MEMORY THAT MARKED YOU?

“I was still exploring the world when the teachers took us to see the Van Gogh exhibition in Strasbourg. It was wonderful. I felt that we were not prepared to receive this vision. We felt that there was much more than images, that very deep motivations took us far beyond the visible. Along with this exhibition, there was another, unpretentious, on minimal art. It definitely upset me as much as the Van GOGH exhibition. "
 

WHAT IS YOUR TECHNIQUE?

“I let chance direct my gaze and guide my gesture. Using various tools (sponges, rollers or even kitchen utensils, etc.), I work in acrylic and use all possible tools except brushes which I find too easy to master. I find my way to a painting without a subject, an abstract painting. What matters to me is the confrontation between myself, the pictorial material and the tool in a given time. With acrylic, time is of the essence that compels me to work in a rush. I love the unexpected, the choice it imposes on me and the unexpected result it offers me. I love it so much that I cause the unexpected for every painting. I change my technique for each project and each one lays the foundations for the next. In any case, I know that I can trust the material to suggest unsuspected, but probable worlds to me. I leave it to matter to create sufficient complexity so that there are a multitude of tables contained in one; I don't want you to be bored looking at my work. "

YOU LIKE EXPERIMENTS, YOUR IDEAS EVOLVE, YOUR WAY OF EXPRESSING YOURSELF TOO, WHY?

"I was led to wonder what would happen if someone took away such and such an element that I consider essential for painting. So I successively and alternately removed the canvases or any traditional medium whatsoever. I painted on shuttering boards, worm-eaten wood, all kinds of scrap wood, lead sheets ... I then removed the colors. I started grinding charcoal, terracotta, chalk. I also used composite gold leaf and in this case I always paired them with the simpler graphics for the sake of contrast. I then removed the left hand to design the right hand designs. Awkwardness allowed me to find things I didn't know about. I then removed the sight. I designed all the projects with my eyes closed. All the tests were much more successful and interesting than the drawing on the motif. So I learned to claim "mistakes".

The main idea of ??all these experiments was to create constraints for myself to have the freedom to free myself from them. I wanted total freedom when painting.
 

IF YOU HAVE TOGIVE AN ADVICE?

“Always question what has been learned; always experimenting with new avenues; always push the limits, let yourself be surprised by what you do not believe you can, vary the techniques for each painting and finally feel alive. "