Frédérique Marteau

Frédérique was initiated into art from an early age through museum visits and exhibitions. This first contact with art left her with strong impressions and intense emotions. As an adolescent, she visited artists' workshops and learned oil painting with Gwen Fain in Meudon. She then studied Fine Art at the Duperré School in Paris, which exposed her to many techniques, including lacquer in particular. The work of layering and transparency fascinated her and would stay with her throughout her career as a painter.
After a first experience of three years working in decoration, she became a colourist for a company producing hand prostheses. Plastics became her medium and skin tones her palette.
Gradually she moved away from the artistic world and worked in information technology for some time before finally quitting everything in order to dedicate herself to her passion. Reunited with her primary vocation, she studied under the painter Jean-Yves Guionet. Her canvases have been exhibited since 2002 in the largest cities in the world (Paris, Hong Kong, London, New York, New Orleans…) Her pictorial influences include numerous contemporary artists both American (Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Joan Mitchell) and French (Nicolas de Staël, Pierre Soulages).
Parallel to her activity as a painter, Frédérique teaches the mysteries of colour in fine arts classes and leads private workshops. Her years of studies can be seen in her work. She uses oil paints as lacquer, in a pure style where colour effects take precedence over the representation of the subject. The compositions of her works are divided into several superimposed and clearly defined layers. The artist spreads the paint with a knife over the entire surface of the canvas. The impression of depth is energized by a knowledgeable game of contrasts, of filled and empty space. The sections of colour, and the horizontal treatment recall the immensity of large expanses. Nature inspires her in all its diversity (the smell of the sea, the sound of sand in the desert, the whispering of trees…) and invites us into her dazzling works, bathed in light.