Roc-Roussey ‘Realm of Imagination’ at Opera Gallery Singapore
Roc-Roussey’s imagination bridges Eastern and Western mythologies, re-invigorating fantasy worlds that transcend time and space
Jean-Pierre Roc-Roussey, ‘Katana en robe jaune’, 2017, oil on canvas, 195 x 130cm. Image courtesy Opera Gallery.
Opera Gallery presents highlights from French painter Jean-Pierre Roc-Roussey’s fervent imagination that bridges Eastern and Western mythologies, re-invigorating fantasy worlds that transcend time and space. His works spin dreamlike narratives of legendary wars, epic romances and heroic odysseys.
Jean-Pierre Roc-Roussey, ‘Meditation a la boule d’or’, 2017, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100cm. Image courtesy Opera Gallery.
‘I loathe anything that is too normal or symmetrical’, notes Roc-Roussey, defending the use of a wide spectrum of dimensions for his paintings. ‘There has to be an underlying fault line in my paintings: a hint of dilation, explosion, swelling. My protagonists are often alone, isolated, separated from the world, closed off and trapped in their daily accoutrements.’
Jean-Pierre Roc Roussey, ‘Frida et l’oiseau bleu’, 2017, oil on canvas, 170 x 60cm. Image courtesy Opera Gallery.
Whether depicting an intrepid horserider throwing herself into battle, a young devadasi dancer in a rapturous act of worship, or a geisha retaining a fascinating composure in the midst of public display, fixed cultural identities are reimagined as fluid forms in the artist’s painterly vision.
Jean-Pierre Roc-Roussey, ‘Les Amantes’, 2017, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 170cm. Image courtesy Opera Gallery.
What connects these heroines across their rich and varied cultural origins is an emphasis on their strength and self- sufficiency. They remind us of the presence of beauty and dignity, offering us a contrast to the mundanity of the day to day. Roc-Roussey’s works unearth an ancestry between the historical, geographical and the imaginative.
Jean-Pierre Roc Roussey, ‘Geisha en promenade’, 2017, oil on canvas, 190 x 70cm. Image courtesy Opera Gallery.
‘Realm of Imagination’ is a testament to the artist’s continued development, and also marks Opera Gallery’s enduring, twenty-year-long relationship with the artist.
More information at operagallery.com.
