Francesco Ruspoli

Born 1958 in Paris from a British mother with a French background and a Belgian father with an Italian background Ruspoli debuted in a group show at theMuseum: “Bastion St Andre” in Antibes, France. He went on to present his work in salons and galleries increasing international exposure. 

He has been recipient of a number of important awards and medals such asEugene Fromentin Award in France, Gold Medal from Beijing Olympic Fine Art in China, Silver Medal from Grand Prix of Rome in Italy.

In 1986 Ruspoli was chosen to submit some works for the highly prestigious Automn Salon in Paris, France from which he was contacted byGalerie Atlante for a two years contract. During this time Ruspoli was approached by the British Phoenix gallery where he had several exhibitions and brought him to England. 

Inspired by new surroundings Ruspoli moved towards a new way of working stimulated by the influences of artists such as Francis Bacon, Frank Auerbach, Henri Matisse, Edward Munch and Egon Schiele.

His work frequently places the human figures and nature in an abstract environment supported by a vivid use of colours where subtle gradation and dramatic contrast express nuance of emotion and sensuous physicality.  The work also expresses the direct sensation of lived experience through organic shapes and forms woven from flowing lines and the gaze of the viewer. You are invited to participate in a creative encounter with theses elements constructing your own visual languages and meanings.

“Art is about sharing visual ideas. My canvas may not have a front or a back cover but I try with each study, each painting to represent a work to be read rather than stared at. If through my work as an artist I am able to stimulate thoughts and feelings then I have achieved my goal.”

Ruspoli’s art explores the dynamic frontier between abstraction and figuration. This fertile area keeps alive the infinite possibilities of being human in an age intent upon closing them down.

Using a strikingly vibrant palette, each painting composes a symphony of colours where subtle gradation and dramatic contrast express nuance of emotion and sensuous physicality.

The work also expresses the direct sensation of lived experience through organic shapes and forms woven from flowing lines and the gaze of the viewer. 

You are invited to participate in a creative encounter with these elements, constructing your own visual languages and meanings.

From this, questions arise about the interactions between humans and their many environments.

It is hoped there also follows an increased sense of wonder at your own capacity for re-interpretation and invention which will bring an uplifting feeling to you and the world in which you are living.

Creativity for Ruspoli is a special form of discovery. He starts as an archaeologist of his own imagination, peeling back layers to find the essence of the image which may origin in ancient or classical art, dance or theatre. This process involves lengthy development of ideas worked through on canvas, much like Beethoven’s constant working out and refinement of his musical themes in sketches. This sometimes requires an austere Zen-like mental discipline, where he can get himself out of the way so his art can create itself. This is laborious, but is the only way he has found so far to achieve authenticity in his work. 

Ruspoli’s work is an exploration of relational space and its possibilities in contemporary society. 

“ Art expresses a fundamental part of what it means to be human. It is through art that the conflicts of life can be explored, better understood, brought to the surface and put into new relationships with each other. I believe we are living in an unprecedented time of the breakdown in human relationships and interactions. This is happening from the individual and personal level to the opposite geopolitical end of the spectrum. We tend to think of interactivity in terms of technology these days rather than human feeling and connection. 

My art is meant to directly challenge this state of affairs and re-invigorate and re-inspire the emotional and spiritual dimensions of human life, which is inevitably in direct conflict with much of what we see around us in our world now. These are central question not just of what art is, but of what art does, and can or even should do. The biggest frustration has been struggling against a system that attempts to codify what sells, thereby killing creativity and individual expression. It has taken me many years to find my creative voice, and a large part of this has been a struggle against such commercial forces. They are very powerful and insidious, and institutionally dismiss or ignore what they cannot appreciate”.

The relational concern of his work is intended to embrace all viewers, so their interpretations are equally valid as his. The act of viewing is to enter a relationship, a mutual encounter of the painting and the viewer. This is why the figures in his work are placed so viscerally in relation to each other, and why this stimulates a reflection on relatednesswhich encompasses the viewer.

A vital part of interpretation is our emotional response, which incidentally is not solely the preserve of a ‘refined’ academic elite. The experience of viewing/ relating is the essence of his work so he hopes his work is able to offer that precise experience to the viewer. You could say his message, theme and vision is to co-create an experience of emotional connection - whatever it might be - on that precise moment of that particular day, with this individual person in this specific space.

OUR NEED FOR OTHERS SERIES

Synopsis 

Inspired from Renaissance artists such as for composition Paolo Veronese and Sebastiano del Piombo by creating scenes representing group of people gathering in different places and as for colours Giovanni Battista Cima da Conegliano and Bellini by using orange, red, blue, green, Naple yellow and pink as principal pigments.

Ruspoli isrepresenting his own psycho-analyticalversion of contemporary societies and the relationship between individuals amongsocial and cultural groups . 

Email: francesco.ruspoli@icloud.com

Website: www.francescoruspoliart.com