LOU ROS
Lou Ros’ art is centered round the de-structuring of form, rather than simply reproducing the original in perfection. With the unfinished imperfect work he wishes to evoke the viewers interest and imagination. His personality emulates his style where he says:
“I never like to finish a sandwich on my plate. It’s a bad habit that I’ve had since I was little”.
He treats subjects in a raw, free handed manner, using explosive, radiant and vibrant dramatization of colours and favoring the distorted, torn figures of their subjects. Similarly the artist works convey a sense of the legacy of Cubism in the shapes, and the automatic writing of the surrealists … sometimes leaving the unconscious expressing itself.
Specifically he wishes to capture the viewer’s interest by allowing them to imagine the end of the painting, or piece together the story in a collage for themselves. Ros allows freedom too in his creation of an artwork, as he works without having a clear idea of the final result, and stops his work before it seems finished. He will captivate one’s eye by transforming that which is clear into a blur and that which is fixed into a movement. His paintings are representations of both the external world and his own inner world. Bonding beautiful colours and interesting contortions with his enchanted paintbrush Ros creates a magical dance on the canvas.
The artist finds life in the distorted, vibrant, failed or shaky line more than the nice clean straight lines, which he finds boring. He searches for the strength and freedom in the unfinished painting more than portraying just a beautiful image on a well-finished canvas. An architectural drawing that stops at the foundation of a large house, which is unfinished, and not quite right.
However for Ros, this captures more interest than a completed drawing, saying: “The moment where little is enough to suggest the structure interests me, leaving the spectator‘s imagination open at the moment the scene is starting to appear.”
Ros often quotes the American conceptual artist John Baldessari to convey his thoughts and approach, “It is only when you have been painting for quite some time that you will realize that to begin your compositions seem to lack impact – That they are too ordinary. That is when you will start to break all the rules of so-called composition and to think in terms of design. Then you can distort shapes, forms invent, and be on your way towards being a creative artist.”
Rebecca Wilson, Chief Curator at Saatchi Art, selected Lou Ros in year 2013 as one of twelve emerging international artists to invest in. He exhibited the following year at Saatchi Gallery London.
This year he took part of the exhibition titled „The Fantasy of Representation“ curated by Andrew Salgado in London. His work was shown up together with works by Hurvin
Anderson, Francis Bacon, Sverre Bjertnes, Eckart Hahn, Gary Hume, Andrew Salgado and Alexander Tinei.
Lou Ros is living and working in Paris.
Exhibitions (selection)
2017 | PIN UP | solo exhibition | Galerie Dukan | Paris SOLACE | group exhibition | Paul Booth Gallery | New York HIJACK | solo exhibition | Christopher Moller Gallery | Cape Town |
2016 | HIJACK | solo exhibition | Christopher Moller Gallery | Cape Town HIJACK | solo exhibition | Galerie Guido Romero Pierini | Paris SOMEWHERE | solo exhibition | Dolby Chadwick Gallery | San Francisco FOURTH WALL | group exhibition | Paul Booth Gallery | New York STROKE Art Fair | Galerie flash | Munich FULL SPECTRUM | group exhibition | Abend Gallery | Denver OPENING OF GALERIE GUIDO ROMERO PIERINI | group exhibition | Galerie Guido Romero Pierini | Paris |
2015 | SOMEWHERE | solo exhibition | Galerie flash | Munich The Fantasy of Representation | group exhibition | with Hurvin Anderson, Francis Bacon, Gary Hume, Alexander Tinei etc. | curated by Andrew Salgado | London ART.FAIR Cologne | Galerie flash | Cologne STROKE Art Fair | Galerie flash | Munich SOMEWHERE | solo exhibition | The Christopher Moller Art Gallery | Cape Town |
2014 | SOMEWHERE | solo exhibition | Galerie flash | Munich STROKE Art Fair | Galerie flash | Munich SOMEWHERE | Prix Sciences pour l‘art Contemporain | Paris SOMEWHERE | group exhibition | curated by Rebecca Wilson | Saatchi Gallery | London SOMEWHERE/NO MANS LAND | group exhibition | Rofaida Zaid Gallery | Paris SOMEWHERE | solo exhibition | ARIEL SIBONY | Paris CAPE TOWN ART FAIR | The Christopher Moller Art Gallery | Cape Town |
2013 | CAPE TOWN ART FAIR | The Christopher Moller Art Gallery | Cape Town SOMEWHERE | group exhibition | with Julien Spianti, Pascal Vilcollet and Edwige Fouvry | curated by Guido Romero Pierini | ART O‘CLOCK ART FAIR | ROFAIDA ZAID GALLERY | Paris SOMEWHERE | group exhibition | with Julien Spianti, Pascal Vilcollet and Edwige Fouvry | curated by Guido Romero Pierini | Paris SOMEWHERE | group exhibition | with Thierry Carrier and Magdalena Lamri | Rofaida Zaid Gallery | Paris OFF Bruxelles Art Fair | LILI-UBEL GALLERY | Bruxelles À DOUBLE SENS | solo exhibition | LILI-UBEL GALLERY | Paris FACES II | group exhibition | EMMANUELLE ROUSSE Gallery | Paris SOMEWHERE | group exhibition | with Pascal Vilcollet | curated by BOUM BANG | Paris |
2012 | FACES II | group exhibition | LILI-UBEL GALLERY | Paris COME AND SEE | THE OTHER ART FAIR | London CORPUS | group exhibition | Moscow Museum of Modern Art | Moscow RANDOM | group exhibition | with Vanessa Dakinsky | SPACE SEVEN GALLERY | Folkestone FACES II | group exhibition | curated by Emmanuelle Rousse | Saint-Savin COME AND SEE/CORPUS | HUMANATION | Rofaida Zaid Gallery | Paris CORPUS/COME AND SEE/FACES | solo exhibition | curated by BOUM! BANG! | Paris FACES II | Arteaccessible | curated by Pietro Di Lecce | Milan Lille Art Fair | Artisti GALLERY | Lille AAF NYC | Tache Gallery | New York FACES II/Corpus | group exhibition |19KAREN Contemporary Artspace | Gold Coast FACES II/RANDOM | group exhibition | Seven Minus Seven | Carribean Islands |
2011 | FACES II/CORPUS | group exhibition | Les insoumis | Montbrizon FACES II / RANDOM | MIMESIS | group exhibition | Coldharbour | London Fountain art fair | during Art Basel Miami | Miami FACES/CORPUS | group exhibition | Galerie Pierre Kleinmann | Paris AAF NYC | Tache Gallery | New York FACES II | group exhibition | 322 project | Bratislava CORPS/DECORS | group exhibition | YOUTH‘S TALKING | Cathédrale du Sacré Coeur | Casablanca Arthamptons art fair | New York FACES/ADOPTE/CORPUS | group exhibition | West Bank Gallery | London B.I.G.S. Art FAIR | Beirut Graffiti Street Art Fair | Beirut FACES II | group exhibition | Mimesis | London PAPER FACES/FACES | ARTISLA Gallery at the Dubai Community Theatre & Arts Center in the Gallery of Light | Dubai FACES/PAPER FACES | solo exhibition | Tache Gallery | New York SELFPORTRAIT/PAPER FACES | group exhibition | SAATCHI GALLERY | Art Paris at Le Grand Palais – Paris SELFPORTRAIT | group exhibition | 100 Vauxhall Walk | London Expo Art Fair Belgique | Gallery MAD ART | Tielt MUSEE AAV | group exhibition | with RUE STICK | Nice |
2010 | AUTOPORTRAITS/FACES | group exhibition LGALERIE | Paris AUTOPORTRAITS | Impressions d‘arts à | Sautron CORPS&GRAPHIQUEMENT | group exhibition | Gallery „Etre et connaitre“ | La Rochelle VENTE AUX ENCHERES | Marseille Dans le cadre de Imaginez Maintenant | FRESQUE about „apocalypse saint jean“ for „HOUSE OF THE LIVING-DEAD“ | Bordeaux Affordable Art Fair | Galerie Christian Moreaux Monteil | Paris CORPS&GRAPHIQUEMENT | Théâtre de COLOMBES | Paris CORPS&GRAPHIQUEMENT | Maison des mouettes | La Rochelle |
2009 | CORPS&GRAPHIQUEMENT | Atelier des Arts derniers | Nantes |
Publications (selection)
2015 | LOU ROS | SOMEWHERE | PORKAY Verlag hardcover, 297×210 mm, 120 pages, 56 illustrations, 52 in colour ISBN 978-3-9817454-0-5 |
2014 | 100 Painters of Tomorrow | by Kurt Beers | THAMES 6 HUDSON hardcover, 320 x 240mm, 288 pages, 330 illustrations, 320 in colour ISBN 978-0500239230 |
2012 | ARTBOX MAGAZINE | March Le journal Sud-Ouest | Central page on the supplement | March MISC Magazine | February Bangstyle Art Book | March |
2011 | 100 Artists of the Male Figure: A Contemporary Anthology of Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture | by E. Gibbons | Schiffer Publishing Co hardcover, 279x221mm, 256 pages, 375+ illustrations in colour ISBN-13: 9780764336935 | ISBN-10: 0764336932 |
2009 | Schön! Magazine | Motion | Volume #2 | September |
2008 | Le Monde 2 | Cover | September |