Avant propos pour l’exposition ’Passages’. (anglais)

Daniel Komala, Larasati auc­tio­neers, Jakarta.

People say that great art is time­less. Its power trans­cends time to evoke emo­tions, tell a story, or merely ins­pire with its beauty. Question is, how do you iden­tify today’s true artists, whose works will stand the test of time?

No amount of schoo­ling can make an artist great. Anyone can learn about the tech­ni­ques of the mas­ters and no doubt many would become very skill­ful. But they will remain little else than clever jug­glers of the brush if they fail to express their pro­found fee­lings on to their works. It’s not easy to become a true artist, let alone a master.

On this note, I can proudly declare that Philippe is a true artist who fol­lows his inner urge, inde­pen­dent of fads and fashion. In fact, he has chosen a style that may appear to be somew­hat too conven­tio­nal for art in the new mil­len­nium.

Viewing Philippe’s works is like wat­ching the pre­sence of the past. By blen­ding abs­trac­tion and rea­lism, Philippe’s dream-like pain­tings of the land and people of Bali show purity and sim­pli­city, a life without artifi cia­lity. His deli­cate style and ele­gant images at times mask his visions.

Through the figu­res in his pain­tings, J-Phillipe tries to evoke and ele­vate the human spirit, a qua­lity that has no boun­da­ries, natio­na­li­ties or cultu­res.

Art is part magic and part science, part truth and part ima­gi­na­tion. It is a form of com­mu­ni­ca­tion that goes beyond lan­guage. It has not been exactly a smooth jour­ney for Philippe as an artist, but today I believe Philippe’s art fits the bill.

Look at his works and feel them in your heart and mind. They are so warm, full of pas­sion and com­pas­sion.