Champieux is a very discreet man when you meet him in the street. However, the man has a rather impressive past as a painter who deserves a meeting. No gentleman, no first name, no artist, he wants to be called Champieux! Meeting with him in his lair to discover the character and the paintings.
How did you get into painting?
When I was very young, from the age of 6, I knew I was going to paint. It was something important for me. At that time, my parents had a family friend who was very well known in the professional world, Seguela. He gave me a box of oil paints: my life was transformed. I was already immersed in art, my father had also studied Fine Arts in architecture, my grandfather was a photographer at Free Middayhe created the photo department at the newspaper L’Éclair.
Did you paint any pictures afterwards?
Yes and no! For fun, I painted pictures but at the same time I prepared for and obtained my Cafas (Higher artistic training certificate), obtained a national painting diploma and entered national education. It was in 1970, I was 17 (laughs). I also attended the School of Fine Arts in Montpellier. Students followed me, some are known and recognized to this day.
Did you stay in National Education?
No, I quit after a few years of teaching to make a living from my passion. I began to present my paintings in exhibitions in France, but also in Luxembourg, Belgium, Holland and Canada. My first exhibition was in Agde.
How do you define your painting?
I paint according to my inspiration, generally morning and evening. The subject, a trigger, the sensation is preferable to the object which gave rise to it. My first paintings were more still lifes and then I switched to non-figurative work. But I also painted small paintings on Fort Brescou.
Where can we see you or see you again?
I will have an exhibition in Port-Barcarès in November and December with Arancha Tejedor and I am also at the Dock-Sud gallery in Sète.
Midi Libre correspondent: 06 80 28 29 54.
