LUDOVIC PHILIPPON

Ludovic Philippon is from Rochefort sur Mer, town of Maurice Merleau Ponty and Pierre Loti. After studying architecture and philosophy in Montpellier, he now devotes time to painting in his studio is located north of Montpellier, France.

TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF?

I live in the South of France, north of Montpellier, between the Mediterranean Sea and the Cévennes mountains, with my wife and kids. I live in a peaceful country, far from the hustle and bustle of the city and being so close to nature brings me the peace and inspiration that is conducive to my work as a painter and architect. I get up at dawn and spend my mornings on architectural projects. I make it a point of honour to work on local projects. Then I spend the afternoons and weekends painting. Generally speaking, I have a simple and frugal lifestyle.

What creative work has you excited right now?

I really like the work of Nicolas de Staël, for his colours and the dynamics of the spaces created, Branvanvelde for his sensitivity, and so many other artists like Elworth Kelly, Carmen Herrera, Richard Serra...

What I like very much is the minimalist approach that seems to me to be beneficial in our teeming world. I like the idea that my painting expresses tranquility, calm.
"Less is more" said Mies Van Der Rohe.

I try to generate, through colour, a space of representation that can generate emotion.

"Simplicity of form does not necessarily mean simplicity of experience".

Robert Morris.

My paintings are also intended to be a work on absence: it is this point of emptiness that articulates things between them, that puts them in tension in the pictorial space.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR LOVE OF PAINTING?

I grew up in a craftsman's environment and I have always loved workshops - they are places of possibilities. I spent my first 10 years in Rochefort sur Mer, a city with an orthogonal urban structure that has shaped my outlook forever. It is also the city of Pierre Loti and Merleau Ponty, at the crossroads of my passions: painting, architecture and philosophy. I experienced my first strong pictorial emotion there, at the age of eight, in front of the official copy of Gericault's "Raft of the Medusa" at the city museum. It was also there that I sold my first painting, at the age of 10, to a classmate, the son of a collector.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR PASSION FOR BOTH ARCHITECTURE AND PAINTING?

During my studies in architecture, in Montpellier, I was taught by Jean Leccia, a painter on the fringes of the surface support group and a fabulous colourist. Then, after that, with a degree in hand, I devoted myself to architecture for 15 years without losing sight of painting. It is from 2016, thanks to the construction of our house, that I was able to find the space to set up my workshop and start painting daily.

What advice do you have for emerging artists?

Enjoy yourself,

Eat well and sleep well,

Be forgiving, benevolent, with yourself.

Visit Ludolipon online.