Ludovic Dervillez is a French abstract painter. His work explores the amalgamation of spontaneity, materiality, and emotion through a visual display of color and dynamic gesture.
Education
Dervillez earned his diploma from the Superior School of Art and Design of Reims in 1995, where subsequently, from 1997 until 2005, he was also an art teacher.
Technique
Dervillez works primarily with mixed media on canvas. The artist applies acrylic paint that he mixes with spray paint, oil chalks, oil sticks, and graphite. He then creates varying textures across his compositions by scratching, rubbing, or sponging his canvases. His work typically features painterly strokes alongside jagged contours and geometric forms—sometimes overlaid with written text.
The artist embraces accidents, and takes advantages of unexpected marks or traces to create unrehearsed balance between shapes and colors. Dervillez considers all of his canvases connected, each painting a fragment bearing the continuity of the previous.
Inspiration
Dervillez is driven by rhythm, energy and improvisation. The artist paints on several canvases simultaneously, until each one achieves its individual sense of realization and harmony.
A major theme in his oeuvre is the passage of time; there is no intended narrative content, each painting is rather the visual result of compiled moments of action and observation.
Dervillez is also a curator and the director of La Grange Gallery in Cernay-Lès-Reims, France; a space dedicated to exhibiting contemporary painting from artists around the world.
The establishment works towards the promotion of emerging artists by introducing them to a wider global audience.The overall mission is to facilitate an artist-driven program while providing a platform for interaction and discussion between artists and viewers.
Artist Statement
“The notion of completion of the work, although a goal, is not one of my main concerns. I favor experience, immersion in the work, my intuition and what I have learned… I'm looking for the point of equilibrium, the tenuous border where everything can tip over at any moment.”
Exhibitions
Dervillez has exhibited internationally at numerous galleries. From 2016 to 2019, he was awarded an artist residency at La Fileuse in Reims, France.
