Yannick and Denys each experienced an intense first professional life before dedicating themselves fully to painting. They met in Paris at an art fair, and very quickly, a bond formed. Same generation, same Norman origins, same passion for abstraction: their exchange is fluid, their connection obvious. In this interview, they share their vision of art, the importance of creating together, and those suspended moments when painting says what words cannot.
Can you each introduce yourselves in a few lines?
Yannick: Since childhood, painting has presented itself to me as an obvious choice. Yet destiny first led me to a brilliant career in real estate. At 24, I founded a prestigious real estate agency in Deauville, which I managed for twenty-two years. A demanding success, which nevertheless left a void, a lack, a frustration in me: the ability to paint.
In 1997, I decided to devote myself entirely to painting. I enrolled in classes at the Beaux-Arts in Caen, then at the Louvre in Paris. Without any initial professional ambition, I first painted for myself, to rediscover an inner space long traversed by family life and entrepreneurial activity.
A decisive encounter – with a journalist and painter – encouraged me to participate in exhibitions where works were selected by a jury. I then fully engaged in the art world. I opened a studio-gallery in Deauville, which I ran for fifteen years. Success was immediate: my works traveled throughout France and internationally (Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco, Canada, Dubai, Russia, Germany, Switzerland, Brazil).
Today, I devote myself exclusively to renowned fairs and exhibitions, primarily in Paris, favoring direct contact with the general public and artists from different backgrounds. This exchange nourishes and evolves my creative universe.
My painting is characterized by assumed spontaneity, freed from all academic constraints. I project pigments directly onto the canvas, a gesture that becomes the starting point of an inner journey where intuition and emotion guide the composition. The magic of pigment mixing always surprises and amazes me.
My work revolves around three series:
– The Skies – emptiness dominates, light guides us toward marine spaces where the eye is drawn to reliefs.
– Escape – the pleasure of mixing pigments that lead me toward abstraction.
– Second Life – collages of different often discarded materials that inspire me, such as glass paste fragments, plaster, precious papers, cardboard, fabric, metal, shells, etc.
I navigate freely between these three worlds, rejecting any constraint to preserve the primary force of my gesture: paint, paint, paint.
I then descend into my inner world, where my childhood dream becomes a little more real every day.
Denys: My career in the senior civil service was exhilarating and demanding. Yet, by the turn of the 2000s, I felt the need to open myself to another form of expression: painting. With a scientific, legal, and managerial education, I have always sought to nourish my intellectual curiosity, particularly through the study of philosophy. Thus, while continuing my career until 2014, I began exploring pictorial art – a passion that has accompanied me for 25 years.
My approach to painting is that of a self-taught artist: oil paint tubes, a few palette knives, canvases, many exercises, and in just two years, I mastered the basic techniques and skills of the painter. To deepen my understanding of art and especially to find my own path, I attended art history courses at the École du Louvre, as well as numerous annual lecture series on related subjects.
My interest in abstract painting became clear after discovering Zao Wou-Ki’s exhibition at the Jeu de Paume in Paris in 2003. I then studied the writings of the pioneers of abstraction – Kandinsky, Klee, Mondrian – to better understand their approach and enrich my own practice. It is not so much the works of these artists that inspire me, but rather their creative processes and their vision of art.
Today, my painting is inseparable from my spiritual and philosophical quest. Each painting is an expression of my emotions, an invitation to escape and dream. My hope is that my works evoke emotion in the viewer, offering a moment of pleasure and escape.
You are often associated in projects or exhibitions – how did this collaboration come about?
Both of them: We met in Paris at the Salon des Artistes Indépendants in 2023, at the Grand Palais Éphémère – Art Capital – the largest European artists’ fair. Our canvases were displayed in the same area, and very quickly, an obvious connection emerged: same generation, same values, same Norman origins, a shared passion for painting, similar creative processes, and even those shared uncertainties that mark the daily life of artists. Everything brought us together. A beautiful complicity was born from this encounter, and today, we have become inseparable friends and collaborators in art.
What do you most enjoy about collaborating or surrounding yourself with other artists?
Both of them: What we both enjoy most is first and foremost the immense pleasure of being together. These moments spent together at a fair or exhibition are like a break or vacation; we leave everyday life to immerse ourselves fully in art, among friends who are sometimes from very different worlds.
It is also an opportunity to present our latest creations, discuss our challenges, joys, and projects, and share experiences. Leaving our studios, meeting people, and above all sharing this common passion for art.
Why do you think having an online presence is important for an artist today?
Both of them: The art world evolves rapidly with its time: online commerce now stands as a major channel for collectors. Artists must adapt to this reality, as an online presence significantly increases visibility, especially internationally. Platforms like Singulart also free us from much of the logistical and administrative constraints, which are often time-consuming.
Nevertheless, physical contact with the public remains essential. That is why, for us, an online presence and participation in fairs are not opposed: they complement each other.
Can you share a story or a memorable moment behind the creation of a work?
Yannick: One autumn day, a cinema personality entered my Deauville gallery. They paused for a long time in front of one of my large canvases from the Second Life series. For a week, they returned day after day, simply to look at it, as if something in themselves recognized in this work. Then, unable to let go any longer, they eventually bought it.
Their impatience to receive the canvas in Paris was palpable. On the day of hanging it in their apartment, a long silence settled. They stared at the canvas with an intensity that made me think, for a moment, that they might regret the purchase. Then they looked at me, eyes filled with tears. It was then, finally, that they told me their obsession was right there in front of them, that this work touched them in a way they could not otherwise explain.
We embraced in tears. It was one of those rare moments when art breaks all social, professional, and human distances. A suspended moment where emotion takes over completely.
The next day, still touched by this intensity, back in my studio, I let this memory guide my hand. Under the soft and powerful shock of this encounter, I created a painting in the Escape series. I called it Obsession.
Denys: During my last solo exhibition in Normandy, a young woman lingered in front of one of my paintings, an older work that seemed to touch her deeply. Eyes brimming with tears, she told me, her voice trembling: “I’m sorry, this painting overwhelms me. I don’t know why, but it’s so strong, so magnificent… Thank you.”
This moment of rare intensity confirmed for me that I had reached the essential: creating a resonance between the work and the viewer, where words stop and emotion speaks.
Two years earlier, in the same room, a little boy of barely ten had broken his piggy bank to buy his first painting: a small oil on canvas, 20×20, where shades of blue, simply highlighted with a touch of white, seemed to capture all the light of the world. He too had been struck by this silent force, this beauty that needs no explanation.
These encounters, these gazes, these silences… It is there that I measure the full power of art: in its ability to connect us, beyond ages, beyond words, to what unites us all.
What are you currently working on? A work, an exhibition, a project? Are you working together right now?
Both of them: Currently, we are preparing our participation in Art Capital, the unmissable annual Parisian gathering of artists, which will take place under the dome of the Grand Palais in February 2026.
As for a joint creation, the idea is buzzing in our heads! Although we have not yet planned anything, we could easily imagine, next year, a painting created with four hands or a diptych – a beautiful way to materialize our artistic complicity.
