Fascinated by novelty and driven by an adventurous spirit, Denis Ribas sets up his easel in the heart of numerous landscapes. An outdoor painter, he works in the great outdoors, where he absorbs the energy of the elements. He must feel the wind rushing into his nostrils, filling his lungs, hearing the rain hammering the massive trunks before streaming in sparkling undulations onto the lush grass. Under a bright sun that explodes in a myriad of colors, he dives, his feet anchored in the earth, more alive than ever, inhabited by an irresistible desire to share the sensations that assail him. Denis Ribas is a beast; color is his domain. Under his brushes, nature responds to the intensity of the moment. His landscapes, sculpted with large gestures, vibrate with thick and luminous touches which bring his compositions to life. Colors, materials, contrasts: everything is excessive, like this talkative and passionate artist. Here, no pompous speech or abstract concept: just the vital impulse to celebrate the joy of existing, to transcribe on the canvas the raw emotion of being there, of seeing, of feeling, of touching the essential. Ribas paints as we breathe: with animal intensity, stripped of the veneer of civilization, facing nature. His painting, a refuge from gloom, is a celebration of life, offered in sharing.
Image writer
Denis Ribas is not nostalgic, but he carries within him the memory of significant sensations. A smell, a light, a thrill: all these impressions which shape a being nourish his paintings. This Roussillon elsewhere evokes this youth spent walking the Catalan paths, breathing the scents of the scrubland, marveling at the sun and the azure sky. This unique, crystalline light, sculpted by the tramontana, permeates his imagination, just like the Canigó, which, blue in the morning, pink in the evening, remains a timeless symbol for an entire people. Despite the years, the distance and the travels, Denis Ribas remains deeply linked to these landscapes. Wherever he is, whatever the setting, he always detects a part of Roussillon.
Until January 12
Glass roof of the Pams Hotel,
18 rue Émile Zola in Perpignan
Free entry Tuesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Information on 04 68 66 33 18
