Robert Combas is a French painter and visual artist born in Lyon on May 25, 1957. Founder and leading figure of the Figuration Libre movement, he advocates for an art liberated from academic conventions and draws inspiration from popular culture, rock, comics, and contemporary mythologies. Alongside artists like Hervé Di Rosa, François Boisrond, and Rémi Blanchard, he brings a breath of insolence to French painting in the 1980s.
Robert Combas is a French painter and visual artist born in Lyon on May 25, 1957. He is the founder and leading figure of the movement of the Free Figuration, he claims an art liberated from academic conventions and draws inspiration from popular culture, rock, comics, and contemporary mythologies. Alongside artists like Hervé Di Rosa, François Boisrond and Rémi Blanchard, He brings a breath of insolence back to French painting in the 1980s.
In 1975, Robert Combas joined the regional school of Fine Arts in Montpellier. Quickly, he developed a unique pictorial language, combining bright colors, expressive forms, and a bold, graffiti-like line. Coming from a modest background, he embraced the philosophy of "System D", painting on recycled materials, abandoned student projects, or any object that can be turned into a canvas.
This approach reminds of the artists of theArt Brut, also known as Outsider Art, refers to artwork created by self-taught or naïve artists who are not influenced by traditional artistic techniques or trends. This term was coined by French artist Jean Dubuffet in the 1940s to describe art created outside the boundaries of mainstream culture., such as Jean Dubuffet, who was interested in the creations of self-taught individuals and outsiders, or even Gaston Chaissac, whose forms outlined in black and instinctive compositions resonate with Combas' work. Like them, he values art without frills, direct and spontaneous, drawing from popular imagery and primitive impulses.
Influenced also by artists like Chaim Soutine and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Combas adopts a free gestural style, an expressive universe, and an overload of patterns that characterize his compositions. His painting is often compared to an explosion of colors where chaos and order overlap, creating a captivating visual dynamic.
Robert Combas doesn't paint just for the elite; he aims to reach a wide audience. He draws inspiration from comic strips, advertising, and rock music, particularly punk and new wave bands that he admires. He creates chaotic scenes blending grotesque characters, violence, irony, and social critique. His themes explore war, sexuality, love, and misery with a biting sense of humor.
Her graphic style, combining text and image, is reminiscent of the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, who shared the same instinctive approach to creation. Combas claims a painting without censorship, close to children's drawing and the"Art brut" translates to "outsider art" in English., where expression takes precedence over technique. He also admires Pierre Alechinsky, whose fluid compositions and play of lines can be found in his own spontaneous style.
His work quickly attracts the attention of the art world. In the 1980s, his works are exhibited alongside those of Keith Haring, another artist inspired by street art and popular culture. The Free Figuration movement emerges on the international scene, in opposition to the strictness of minimalism and conceptualism.
Combas also collaborates with the world of fashion and design, creating collections and art objects. In 2007, he painted a MINI Clubman, exhibited at the FIAC in Paris. This project illustrates her taste for mixing disciplines and her desire to integrate art into everyday life.
He also creates sculptures, monumental frescoes, and immersive installations, always seeking to push the boundaries of traditional mediums. Some of his works are inspired by African masks and indigenous arts, which have deeply influenced him. He claims an instinctive approach close to Jean Dubuffet but with a resolutely contemporary touch.
Today, Robert Combas is one of the most celebrated and collected French contemporary artists. His work is featured in numerous public and private collections, and he continues to exhibit in major institutions. He embodies a free and vibrant art, close to the people, resonating with influences from the.outsider art, pop art, and street art.
His solo exhibitions are multiplying internationally, especially in New York, Tokyo, and Berlin, consolidating his status as a major artist. His influence goes beyond painting, also extending to music: he has created his own band., The Legless, where he combines painting and sound performance.
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