His work, essentially non-figurative, has its roots in the artistic movements of the fifties, lyrical abstraction and its various expressions. Rouyer has also rubbed shoulders with some of his best performers, such as Pierre Soulages, Georges Mathieu, then the New Realists Jean Tinguely, Niki-de-Saint-Phalle, as well as the writer and art critic Pierre Restany.
The originality of the technique he developed ensured him, over the years, an international reputation, crowned with numerous prizes and medals.
On raw glued canvas, he applies papers, painted by himself, torn or cut, cleverly laid out, sometimes consisting of sheets of paper, paper of crumpled silk, sometimes of metallic leaves. Under the impulse of his hands, the work suddenly takes shape, life and soul. On these subtly colored backgrounds, with irregular relief, he inscribes signs with liquid wax or white paint by means of a stick. The artist immerses himself totally in his creative act, imprinting on his canvas his joys of the moment, his sorrows, his anxieties, his hopes...
The majority of the works presented are "Windows", sometimes called Tears, Tabernacle, or Golden Rectangle. They are an important part of Rouyer's work. They open up to the world, a world of all possibilities, of the infinite, of the universal, of the absolute. It is for Rouyer a way of communicating with the outside, thanks to the color, essential for him. The window is a privileged place of observation, both in reality and in the imagination and to express it through color takes on the importance of the unspoken, the dream, the sensitivity.
Other, older works made between 1961 and 1963, the "Lessives", buried at the bottom of drawers for decades, constitute another aspect of Rouyer's work. Made on paper with gouache, coffee, tea, cigarette ashes, by saving means, they express a painful part of the life of the artist, then threatened with losing his sight.
This exhibition is a tribute to an exceptional artist, who died in 2010, who brought Swiss art to the highest artistic spheres, both in Switzerland and abroad. May Rouyer's art continue its mission of opening up to the world through its "Windows", like icons flooded with light.
Henry Rouyer (Vevey 1928 - Paris 2010). Orphaned by his father, his mother enrolled him in the College of the Abbey of St Maurice in Valais. At the age of 19 he left Switzerland and enrolled at the Sorbonne in Paris, philosohie section. After completing his studies, he taught for a few years before devoting himself to painting. Participation in a hundred exhibitions throughout Europe (Switzerland, France, Germany), United States, Japan. For fifteen years (1985-2000), President of the APSAS (Association of Swiss Painters, Sculptors and Architects of Paris). Numerous distinctions: Gold Medal (Paris, 1985); silver medals (Paris 1982 and Europe/USA); Osaka International Festival Award (1983). From 1996-1997, President of the Federation of Swiss Societies in Paris.
On the cover: "Déchirures", 1997, 61 x 54 cm; mixed media on canvas
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