Philippe Jourdain: Artist of the Month Exhibition: July 15 - August 15, 2001: Carrie Art Collection: Haitian Art

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Biography of the Artist

I N T E R V I E W
Interview of Philippe Jourdain by Michel Philippe Lerebours M.P.L. = Michel Phillippe Lerebours • P.J. = Philippe Jourdain click here for FRENCH VERSION
M.P.L.:	When and how did you begin to paint?
P.J..:	I spent my whole childhood drawing and reproducing all the paintings and all the covers with decorated borders in watercolors, charcoal and pencil. During the '80's I visited all the galleries in Port-au-Prince. So before my departure for Mexico in 1985, painting was a natural choice for me. My first discovery was pop art: Andy Warhol and the others.
M.P.L.:	*What was your artistic training?*
P.J..:	I'm an autodidact. At the university in Mexico a spent six months in a ceramics studio.
M.P.L.:	*Have you been influenced by the Haitian artists?*
P.J..:	In the beginning certain painters such as Bernard Wah, and Bernard Sejourne have greatly marked my work. The influence of Tiga has been rather emotional. He helped me believe that I could create haitian work of planetary dimensions. Fritzvelt Antoine, Marc-Antoine Legrand and Pascal Smarth, with whom I worked, contributed to the development of my style.
M.P.L.:	*Do you think you have been influenced by the art of the countries where you have lived, particularly Mexico?*
P.J..:	I was struck by Mexican art from the moment of my arrival. It's everywhere. On the facades of all sorts of buildings, the sides of staircases, cupolas. In the tunnels of the metro. I discovered Diego, Rivera, Frida Khalo, Siqueiros, Rufino Tamayo. My encounter with Mexican art confirmed my convictions. I discovered muralism, contrasts, lively colors, chiaroscuro, challenges to the "rules" of composition, large surfaces. I discovered the desire to express what I perceived, the need to communicate joy and fear, and also to tell, to relate, to make my spectator dream.
M.P.L.:	*Is there any friction between your metier of architecture and your art?*
P.J..:	Rather there's a happy cohabitation. Architecture permits me to integrate the concepts of composition, rhythm, volume, depth and perspective with ease. Architecture will always be present in my painting. As my experience grows, the harmony is becoming perfect. Courses in the history of art and architecture helped me to be aware of artistic currents as well as the great masters.
M.P.L.:	*How do you view Haitian art?*
P.J..:	There has been a boom during the last years. A new and younger generation has sprung up, even at the moment when the older ones were reviving their sources of inspiration. But clouds are gathering. Many artists are leaving the country. Those who stay produce their art for a foreign clientele. Autodidacts who encumber the market for art and lower the quality of works of art are more and more numerous. There is no school for the teaching of art and the history of art. Cut off from preceding generations, not having really solid training, young artists won't be able to profit from the experience of their elders and will have many deficiencies.
M.P.L.:	*What are your perspectives for the future as far as painting is concerned?*
P.J..:	In the future I would like to pursue refinements that will help me improve my art still further. I would like to become one of the greater painters of my generation

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