Introducing Thomas Junghans

Thomas Junghans, b. 1956 Recklinghausen, Germany

The sculptures of German artist Thomas Junghans are a new addition to M Fine Arts Galerie this summer. Junghans attended Maastricht University and the Jan Van Eyck Academie Maastricht, both located in the Netherlands. Sculpture became his main focus in 1981, during his time at the Jan Van Eyck Academie. He finished his studies at the Aachen. University in Germany from 1981-85 and has been featured in exhibitions ever since.

Figure 1. Thomas Junghans, Geometriker

His sculptures may appear to be created by quick, almost arbitrary, hacks, but the raw simplicity of his sculptures is indeed a result of exhaustion and extensive work. Junghans describes his process as a ‘controlled sort of drunkenness’. He has said that as a sculptor one wrong move at the wrong moment can completely disrupt, or even destroy, what is being created. He explained that knowing this causes a sort of paralysis that only a ‘controlled sort of drunkenness’ can remedy. Based on the same logic, Thomas Junghans is deliberate in his practice of not overdoing something. Life forms are limited and imperfect, and the unfinished nature of his Portrets (portraits) effectively conveys the indetermination of life.

Figure 2. Thomas Junghans, Inner Circle

Many of his Portrets are reminiscent of classical Greek and Roman sculptures, and he is particularly interested in the stylized image of man. He incorporates cubist and primitive elements, and the result is a captivating interpretation of a human head. Junghans mainly works with bronze, wood, and stone, often leaving the material with a weathered and rustic look. In several of his Portrets, including Beginn der Weisheit and Prima Luce (Gala Version), he contrasts the rustic bronze with bright eye-catching polished segments. The combination of these styles connects the viewer to the internal flow of history.

Figure 3. Thomas Junghans, Beginn der Weisheit

Text by Elizabeth Whitney

THOMAS BOSSARD | Interview with the artist

Thomas Bossard’s solo exhibition “Human Comedy” on view May 1-May 31 2023

Tell us about your beginnings in painting.

From the very beginning, my parents exposed me to art, they read a lot and were interested in theater and cinema. They were open-minded which allowed me to share my impressions and emotions with them. When my mother took me to museums, she always told me to open my eyes wide. For her, that really meant that I had to look at everything, going into every detail, and being amazed by everything. So, naturally, I felt free to draw and develop this interest. At school, my teachers sometimes kept my papers, they said that I had a dancing, very drawn and artistic handwriting. But it was really with the support of my parents that I applied at an art school after high school.

How did you start to study art?

I studied graphic design in an art school in Saint-Luc, Belgium, and then, for a brief period, advertising.  The desire to always have in hand my paper and a pencil did not leave me. Drawing has always been a passion for me since my childhood. However, I was also attracted by the world of theater. I particularly liked the energy, the atmosphere, the richness of the sets and the whole universe that it opened. For 15 years, I worked for theater companies, but also for the Opera of Toulouse, the Capitole. I oversaw theater posters design, illustrations, storyboards but also worked on the sets. During this period, although extremely enriching, I always felt the need to do something else, to paint, and still felt my strong desire to draw. It wasn't easy to take the plunge and devote myself entirely to painting, to claim to be a full-fledged painter.

What attracted you to the theater?

What I liked most, above all, was to highlight the actors, thanks to the sets or the play of light. The photo part was also important, because it allowed me to freeze for a moment all the work done to render the beauty of a scene or a set. Finally, I think there really is an echo between theater and painting, since there is this same search for balance in terms of colors, light and the setting of proportions on a given space, whether it is on a stage or on the canvas. Anyway, theater always helped me a lot in my painting. Thanks to it, I really learned to understand how a space was organized.

What fascinated me in the theater was to be able to represent situations and to play with a given space. In my paintings, in a way, I try to do the same. I like to push the eye of the spectator to scrutinize the details, to discover a story within the story. While painting, I tell myself little playlets, and I try to think of the ridiculousness that can accompany them. In spite of myself, I come to criticize a little bit all the small incoherences of the modern world, while trying to insufflate poetry into it and remaining always benevolent. My view of the world, I express it by painting.

Can you tell us more about this moment when you decided to become a painter?

My beginnings in painting were really marked by a choice to put the theater aside, not to get rid of it completely, but to clarify my desires. I wanted to give myself some time, I had this energy in me that animated me, and I was intimately convinced that I could do something with it. I wanted to see what could come out of me after all this time of gravitating. And then I went for it. At the beginning, it is all about research, you start from existing works, you look for what could really correspond to you. And even if I didn't really have a well-defined style, I tried to express what I had inside me, and to accept this universe that I was building, with these characters and these places that populated them. And then, after a while, I realized that it was possible, that I was having fun with these characters. In fact, I think they have always been present, even in my oldest drawings.

What inspires you?

It is a bit of everything that happens in life. For example, the theme of cooking that I like to work on, comes from the fact that I discovered this universe through a friend who is a chef. Seeing him work in the kitchen and listening to him talk about this world, made me love this energy. In fact, gastronomy is also an art. Therefore, there was a kind of logic in representing restaurant scenes for me. It amused me to imagine people gathered around a plate looking carefully at what was on it. So, the subjects I paint are related to my history: places I go to, scenes I have lived, imagined, or heard about. Everyday life objects touch me as much as they amuse me.

As we can see in this exhibition, the importance of drawing is fundamental in your process, but what does it really say about your work?

I once thought that, with my style, I could allow myself to tell things in my own way, a bit like in a comic book. The content is linked to the form. I have always had a notebook in my hand since I was very young. In my studio, it is the same thing. I sketch quick scenes, and these drawings become paintings or sometimes charcoals, in larger format. This is notably the case for this exhibition.

There is something very spontaneous in the drawing, mistakes are obvious, and then appears what works and what cannot remain. In other words, my notebook is like the bible of my paintings. It is something I will never stop doing.

Interview by Alice Delacroix

MICHEL DELACROIX AT 90

M Fine Arts Galerie is thrilled to present Michel Delacroix at 90, a solo exhibition honoring the artist’s ninth decade of painting, on view from December 2nd – January 6th. Ushering in the holiday season, Michel Delacroix at 90 will feature twenty-one new works all consistent with the artist’s well-established focus on the Naïf-style tradition. Featuring wintery cityscapes and bustling street scenes, Delacroix’s work in its quaint charm strikes a nostalgic chord, perfect for the time of the season.

An acclaimed painter of urban life, Delacroix harnesses mastery of the Naïf tradition imbued with Parisian spirit. Inspired by memories of his youth, Delacroix’s works depict Paris street scenes in the city’s heyday, or, as he calls it: “the Paris everyone wishes to remember.” While still true exemplars of the Naïf tradition, these new works in Michel Delacroix at 90 display a stylistic shift; the artist employs looser brushwork, imbuing the canvas with a kind of ease. His growth detectable in this series, the evolved style proves that painting is not only what Delacroix does, but truly who he is. Despite occasional whispers of retirement, the smells, sounds, and soul of Paris continually call Delacroix back to his work.

Educated at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Delacroix experimented with several painting styles before finding his jamb at the age of 35. Since then, his work has amassed international acclaim, earning awards such as Le Grand Prix des Amateurs d’Art, (1973), the Grand Prix de la Cote d’Azur, (1976) and the Premier Prix de Sept Collines, (1976). Having captivated the hearts of many, Delacroix’s work can be found in both public and private collections in France and abroad. In the U.S. alone, he has been featured in over 300 solo exhibitions across the country.

M Fine Arts is honored to celebrate Delacroix’s lifelong career. Michel Delacroix at 90, likely to be his final U.S. exhibition, is a true triumph. Come and experience the magic of his scenes, and experience the Paris that might be past, but not forgotten.

M Fine Arts at the Art Market Hamptons

The M Fine Arts team is off to the Hamptons! We’re pleased to announce that we’ll be returning to the Art Market Hamptons for the East End’s premier annual art fair. Headed to the Hamptons August 11th through 14th? Come by the pavilion and see us along with 90 other galleries showing some of the top vanguards in modern and contemporary art. A cultural spectacle for twelve years, the art fair serves as a forum for collectors, designers, dealers, and artists, as well as an adventurous day out for the avid art-appreciator. 

M Fine Arts plans to present six of our artists, Anne Leone, Stéphane Joannes, Mark Knoezer, Beth Carter, Franco Salas-Borquez, and Philippe Charles Jacquet. Their work really celebrates the coastal summer spirit of the Hamptons with their playful marine themes and nautical motifs. Keep reading for a deeper “dive” into these artists and the art fair!

Anne Leone is an L.A. native but now splits her time between Berkley, Massachusetts, and Brooklyn, New York. She produces eye-catching hyper-realistic paintings of swimmers, as though looking at them from under the water. Leone deftly captures the water’s refractions and reflective properties, rendering work almost evocative of photography. Her interest in the expressivity and litheness of forms in the water felt perfect for a carefree weekend on the Long Island shoreline.

Corazón del Paraiso #14, acrylic on linen, 60 x 74in.

Like Leone, Chilean-born artist Franco Salas-Borquez also features water prominently is his work. Perfect for a beach-front art show, Salas-Borquez’s wave paintings will also make an appearance at our booth in the Hamptons.  From far away, one might mistake these works for large-scale photographs, but they are actually oil paintings. His keen eye for mimicking how water moves and rendering it onto canvas is truly spectacular, and the resulting pieces work perfectly in the modern art-lover’s space.

l'horizon perdu, oil on canvas, 75 x 78in.

We also plan to show work by contemporary French artist, Stéphane Joannes. Joannes’ large oil paintings on canvas depict nearly-abstracted cargo tankers at sea. He draws on the ships’ vast horizontality and employs bright dynamic hues to produce compositions comparable to abstract color fields. The clear connections to water and global commerce made Joannes a perfect fit for the fair. 

Tanker 30 (triptych), Oil, bitumen and glycerin on canvas, 39.25 x 118in.

Alongside Joannes’ Tankers, we’ll be showing one of Beth Carter’s sculptural masterpieces: Giant Minotaur II. Standing at over six-and-a-half feet tall and cast in bronze, the Minotaur will act as one of the more sizable pieces in the show, but is nonetheless exemplary of Carter’s oeuvre. Carter works exclusively in bronze, and is primarily interested in hybridity and mutability as subject matter. Like the Minotaur, many of her works feature animal-human amalgamations, often lost in a moment of quiet contemplation. Their soft, almost melancholy gazes evoke a sort of pathos in the viewer, reminding us they might be more human than animal after all. Come check out more of Carter’s work here.

Giant Minotaur II, bronze (with steel base), 78.75 x 25 x 24in.

Mark Knoezer, a Hudson-River-Valley-based artist, will also be showing with us in the Hamptons. Knoezer is best known for his striking wooden wall sculptures that combine oil, acrylic, and epoxy to produce stunning abstract works. His extensive layering of pigment produces vibrant concentric circles, honoring symmetry, color, and dynamism. Their unique visual language speaks to the forward-thinking contemporary minds a part of this event! See more of them here.

Splendor, oil, acrylic and epoxy on wood, 62in. diameter

Last but not least, we’ll also be showing pieces by artist, Philippe Charles Jacquet. His ethereal seascapes depict the French coasts in Brittany, France. Combining fantasy and reality, these works celebrate the ever-changing waters of the region and emanate a beachy coolness perfect for the Hamptons’ affair. Check them out at the Art Market in August, or in our Boston gallery.

le maitre de mon monde, oil on panel, 47 x 23.5in.

We hope to see you there! For more information on the Art Market such as ticketing, location, or COVID protocol, visit their website.

 M Fine Arts at the Art Market Hamptons | August 11-14

Location:

Nova's Ark Project & Sculpture Park
60 Millstone Road
Water Mill, NY 11976