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Soho New YorkInterview with Jean-Marie Haessle
By Michael Macinnis
Born in France, Jean-Marie Haessle moved toNew York in 1967,
where he lives and paintstoday. As part of our ongoing series of
interviewswith working artists in New York, this interviewwas took
place at the artist’s studio in Soho.
How did you get started making art? This is solong ago; I am
afraid to even think of it. I was 17and had been very sick and
spent two months inthe hospital. My oldest brother bought me a
bookon Impressionism. I became obsessed reading it.I though, that’s
it, I will be an artist, mostly for allthe excessive romantic
reasons. I have to add, mypaternal grand-father had been a
professional signpainter. He died very young from lead poisoning.He
had a brother, my great uncle who was anartist, mostly doing
religious frescos for churches.He supposedly got into alcohol,
spent seven yearsin the French Foreign Legion before one day
showingup in my village, and then after a while he disap-pearing
for good.
Where do you get your inspiration? Inspi-ration is such an
overused word. It is part ofthe old and worn out conceptions; like
ge-nius, bril liant, great, for example. As youknow, inspiration
means being in spirit. Weare all in spirit, if not we are dead. So
I amnot looking to be inspired; the biggest inspi-ration is work
and knowing how to be alone.I think all artists have to discover
their ownways for being able to stare at a blank canvasand make
something. Usually I deface it first,with anything I feel like
doing, charcoalsquiggles, color doodles, spray can, etc.From there,
a feeling of color has to somehowget into me, and then there is
working.But words are of no use here.
S tud io V i s i t
The artist at work, Jean-Marie Haessle in his Soho studio, 2014,
New York. Courtesy: The artist.
“Hokusai, one of the greatest JapaneseUkiyo-e artist, when he
turned 70 years old,said that he now really thinks that he
wascapable of doing some great drawings.”
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What are you working on now? Twelveyears ago I did an all black
and white paint-ing, a very simple trompe l’oeil. It was greyspray
painted, organic shapes on a whitebackground, with an all-over
calligraphic linedrawing over this background. Every sooften, it
seems every few years, I return tothis concept and produce a few
more pieces.I also did series of very colorful paintings inoil,
some almost all-over in look. Then severalyears I got again very
much involved in thiswork. Now I want to expend on this andtackle
the color factor more and more. I havefinished a series of
paintings which in factare more like drawings with paint on
canvas;since I am applying paint directly from thecolor tube to the
canvas, a technique I usedextensively many years ago. It gives an
initialfreedom and spontaneity to the surface. Afterthis first
phase of work, I usually revert to thebrush, or rather, I am mixing
all and everyway to achieve my goal; brush, direct tubeapplication,
hands, fingers. The final workhas to have an all-over effect, to be
a chro-matic whole where every color, just like eachinstrument of a
symphonic orchestra, has toparticipate and enrich the fullness of
thetotal surface of the painting. Naturally, it’snot the beginning
of a work that is important,it’s to know when it’s finished. Very
hard.Sometime you just stop and leave it at that.
What’s your favorite medium to work inand why? Oil on canvas and
acrylic on canvas.Oil, for the impasto of the surface; it is
alsounmatched in terms of the infinitely subtleshadings you can
achieve. There is a certainresonance in a beautiful oil painted
surfacewhich is impossible to do with acrylic paint.The drawback is
that the work is necessaryslow, and quick over-painting is usually
flir t-ing with disaster. On the other hand, theacrylic medium is
perfect to work fast, and ifyou want to do color blending you have
towork very, very fast, without thinking. Thiscan be a very good
thing, not thinking. Mylatest acrylic works are usually quite
large,by necessity, since the gesture, so differentfrom my almost
intimate and slow way of myoil works, has to be wider with
spontaneityand speed. The French painter, Mathieu,would be a better
example than Pollock inthis way of working, and with large
brushes.I usually start with the canvas on the floor, un-stretched,
where I can work from all sides.Not having a top or bottom is
great, it keepsyou disoriented, which is very good at this
point. Later I tack the work on the wall, andthen a lot or
re-working takes place. Some-times very few elements of the initial
floorwork is left, nevertheless, the energy is stillthere; this is
the most important ingredient inthe final resolution of the
painting. I love toalternate between the two mediums. I usedto try
to meld the two, but I have given updoing this. It presents the
problem of twovery different sides in the output of my work.So be
it.
What is your personal definition of life andart and everything
in between? That’s a lotin one question. What’s the meaning of
life?Guess I just might pass of that one. Doing art,for me, is not
trying to answer this un-answer-able question, but it is an
attempt, even if afeeble one, to make some kind of sense ofbeing
alive. To some extent I envy those whobelieve in a God, but this is
not for me. As fororganized religion, it’s obviously the
greatestplague for mankind since the beginning oftime. Millions
upon millions have died forone or another godly cause, and we
comeever closer to blowing up the whole planetbecause of religious
fanatics. All supposedlyin the name of a God who, I am sure doesnot
exist. In the end, painting also gives mesomething to do to relieve
the sometimesutter boredom of life.
What are your artistic influences? Of coursethe Impressionists
were the first, and the most last-ing one. The classical American
Expressionists,de Kooning, Pollock; but also Dubuffet, the
Cobramovement. Now, at my age, I don’t know any-more, and I don’t
care. I go seldom to see showsor even museums. I guess I am mostly
only inter-ested in what I am doing, time is running out…
What are the reactions to your work?When I was younger, I guess
I was moresensitive to other people’s reactions, and ofcourse I
don’t know many artists who don’tl ike it when they hear good
things abouttheir work. Very quickly you learn that veryfew people
tell you the truth through. So youhave to learn that praise or crit
icism aremeaningless. The best and funniest reactionsI get are from
children. They are totally natural,with an imagination unmatched by
any adult.Then there are the write-ups by the profes-sional
critics. Most have a way with wordsand fill up a lot space, what we
call in Frenchverbiage, but the meaning is usually as fuzzyas
cotton candy. So what’s left is to navigatewith your own GPA. The
most dangerous
“As you know, inspiration means beingin spirit. We are all in
spirit, if not we are dead.”
Haessle Transcriptione, 2013. Oil on canvus, 66 x 66 inches.
Courtesy: The artist.
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thing for an artist is to let the trends of themoment into the
work. Unless that is whatyou are setting out to do, to pander to
thefashion of the moment, you have to be cutout for this sort of
thing. The best thing for anartist is to go ahead with the work,
with en-thusiasm, this is still a good word. I have afriend, when
he comes to see me he alwaystells me: Do you have any new pieces
whichcame make me feel enthused?
What do you do when you are not makingart? Going to the gym, at
this point in my life,even if not fun every time I go, it is
necessary forkeeping my aging body somewhat in shape. Ineed it not
only to feel better, but I think, and thisis a little crazy, I feel
I am only now really hittingmy prime, that only now I’m ready to do
goodworks, to make the painting I always dreamed Imight be capable
of doing. It’s always the futurework which is the most exiting to
think about. So Iwant to last a little longer, if possible. It
might bepresumptuous, but this is what I feel. Hokusai, oneof the
greatest Japanese Ukiyo-e artist, when heturned 70 years old, said
that he now really thinksthat he was capable of doing some great
draw-ings. But then, he was Hokusai; I am absolutelynot pretending
to be anything else but what I am,an artist trying to do his best.
It reminds me of agreat moment in an old film, with Jack
NicolsonOne Flew Over The Coo Coo’s Nest, the scenewhen he tried to
rip up the water fountain and allthe crazy people where laughing at
him and heso he said: At least I tried. I also take time off
fromtime to time, not doing anything, maybe going tosee a movie or
just sit in a park and watch trees.Life is exceedingly boring,
doing art is still thebest antidote.
What do you think makes good art good?Originality or style?
Originality and styleare the same to me. I like to look at a
greatwork of art, not in terms of style or originality;these words
are totally meaningless whenone sees a great work. Maybe it’s
poetry,magic, inspired or infused by spirit, the soul,the essence
that keeps us alive and leavesour mortal body when we die. The
artist hasto somehow transmute iner t materials withthe spark of
his own soul, like the alchemistswho tried to turn lead into gold —
but theyall failed. In this sense, the great artists arethe real
alchemists, the ones who reallyturned lead into gold. All great art
has that. M
Haessle Homage 1, 2013. Oil on canvus, 40 x 46 inches. Courtesy:
The artist.