MICHAEL LECOMTE
USA-FRANCE ●
Artist statement:
"Through the painting medium, I work on the contemporary landscape. I ask myself why a simple rectangle
can be so visually appealing. The collage postcards of american painter Ellsworth Kelly fascinate me.
Or, closer to me, the works of belgian artist Mégane Likin. I am looking for my own solution to break
the traditional “window painting”. I alternate between small and very large scale formats, exploring its
contrast and dynamic. As for my process, my paintings are transformed, scratched and re-worked, like
walls in the city, or like medieval palimpsests. I always combine different techniques together, like
oil, lacquer, spray paint, plaster, cement. In a figurative-abstract style close to the “bad painting”
artists (americans or belgian, like Walter Swennen), the result is deliberately expressionist. I play
with a certain sense of theatricality.
The themes I explore are deceptive. In the sense that, at first glance, you notice the works are almost
pretty, pittoresque, playful landscapes. But very quickly you can see that something is not right. You
end up noticing a neon military drone, black shadows, or some splashy confusion, weird nonsensical
stains. I use my art to exorcise my fear of chaos. I try to play with the disruptive."
↪ Upcoming exhibitions
2025 ◍ Show at Jardiniers Montrouge, Paris
Opening on May 24th
2025 ◍ Solo show at Musée de la Boverie, Liège
From July 25th to September