Vincent Magni

When Vincent Magni paints, he is not as playful as when he sculpts. Starting with a monochromic abstract image in modulated tones, to which he adds layers of lightly pigmented reliefs, he soon finds that his gestures become rigid, expressing forms for form's sake, with an absence of any identifiable images. Gradually, an urgent need to portray an organic reality that corresponds to the flow of his emotion leads him to place schematic silhouettes in the background, from which appear geometric forms, along with a burst of stains, tufts, splashes and drips. The female figures of Vincent Magni seem to have been snatched from the shadows, almost by surprise; they are portrayed from behind, in profile or sometimes full face, allowing only a glimpse of their evanescent morphology through vague contours. With his undefined environment in the fields, the anecdote lies in the suggestion, in areas where silence is as eloquant as whispered confidences. "Something happens that we cannot see, behind pathways we can only guess at," says Vincent Magni. "Thoughts leap forth, worlds come together. Day, night? Men, women? It doesn't matter, as long as there is emotion."