Robert Combas
© Philipp Hugues Bonan
«I don't just want to reproduce like many graffiti artists; I also want to find inventive things, really create from there, for me, within me... I don't always work spontaneously and I sometimes do serious subjects, even political ones, but my paintings are more of a laugh even when they're horrible...»
© Philipp Hugues Bonan
Born in Lyon on May 25, 1957, Robert Combas lives and works in the Paris region. During his studies, Robert Combas adopted the conventional rules of art and sought to open up new possibilities: he redefined the use of space, color, and figuration. Thus, at the dawn of the 1980s, he brought a new figurative painting to the fore.
Present on the artistic scene since 1979, he is the creator, together with Hervé Di Rosa, of a movement that Ben called «free figuration». In the 1980s, «free figuration» desacralized art and claimed for painting what the punk movement claimed for music: everyone can be an artist. This movement, inspired by popular culture accessible to everyone, expresses freedom in all its forms: society, violence, suffering, sexuality, happiness…
Continuing this provocative attitude in his personal work, Robert Combas faces all artistic challenges: painting, sculpture, music, and cinema are part of his work and allow him to develop his imagination on all media. Robert Combas exorcises the tragedies of history by interpreting them through his poetic and humorous writing; he deciphers the world, embellishing it or darkening it at will, taking us on an incredible colorful and musical adventure.
