Profiles of Contemporary Art and - ARTisSpectrum

InDy (Didier Bovard)
For Didier Bovard, the French painter better
known as InDy, chateaux are ideal vessels for
exploring France’s heritage. His oil paintings of
historic buildings and their lush, verdant grounds
offer the artist a way to reconnect with his homeland.
When he isn’t painting, InDy is an explorer. His
ocean-spanning excursions, the most recent, a
tribute to Elvis Presley, involving 17,000 kilometers
in a pedal-boat on the sea and 3,000 kilometers on
a bicycle, place renewed importance on a sense
of belonging and cultural identity, manifested with
sensitivity and vivid beauty in each dramatic,
luminous canvas. Citing the influence of another
sensitive portrayer of his surroundings, Paul
Cézanne, he takes to heart the pioneering Modern
artist’s observation that “the most seductive thing
about art is the personality of the artist himself.”
The result is our ability to follow InDy’s journeys
Harmonie Oil on Canvas 18” x 24”
through time, portrayed in these grand structures, often under overcast skies, the surrounding gardens and lakes filled with
activity. He reinvigorates historical sites with his own life, introducing walkers in period costumes, majestic sailboats and soaring
birds into the landscape of smoothed, varnished oil paints. Each impressionistic composition plays with our perceptions, with
certain colors appearing more vibrant than expected while others seem pale, and proportions and perspectives are rendered
with exacting realism in some places and manipulated or distorted elsewhere. We gain a better understanding of InDy’s persona
through his art, but also a new sense of humanity’s relationship to its past.
www.universindy.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Indy_(Didier_Bovard).aspx
Trees in Botanical Garden 2 Oil on Canvas 16” x 20”
Alive with vitality, birdsong, and light, Younghee
Hong’s paintings evoke a sense of energy that is
based in peace and life. As the sun gleams gold on
leaves and bark one can hear the rustle of branches,
feel the wind blowing softly by. Hong’s creations
plunge viewers into the wilderness, visually exploring
the gracefully twisting tangles of root and vine and
dappled thickets enveloped in shadow. Finding a
wealth of compositions and inspiration in the thick
undergrowth thriving along the edges of humanity in
Tampa’s lush botanical gardens, Hong’s landscapes
quietly offer a glimpse into the heart of the forest.
Moreover, her scenes have a human relevance, the
unkempt branches representing the ‘outsiders’ of
society who are not cared for but support one another
to reach full, flourishing growth. As she paints in oils on
canvas, the artist captures the essence of her scenes
and message in the smooth crispness of her brushstrokes and purity of her colors, infusing her highly realistic works with a
sense of truth. Hong’s paintings are imbued with a deep personal spirituality as she discovers an energetic yet meditative beauty
and harmony in the seemingly unplanned chaos of nature.
Born in South Korea, Younghee Hong developed a strong appreciation for line and space early in her studies of her homeland’s
traditional calligraphy and art. A graduate of the University of South Florida’s Studio Arts program, she currently exhibits in
Tampa, Florida, where she also lives, and with Agora Gallery in New York City.
www.younghee-art.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Younghee_Hong.aspx
Younghee Hong
73 ARTisSpectrum