Beyond the Impasse

Jean-Marc Calvet’s life is an adventure in itself - as improbable as it sounds Jean-Marc has been alternatively bent cop, underworld bodyguard, nightclub impresario and out-ofcontrol
drug addict.

Such extraordinary existence has inspired British director Dominic Allan to portray a deeply touching and genuine documentary of this man’s incredible life. In front of Allan’s camera, Jean-Marc Calvet gives himself away sharing the most intimate as well as the most extreme moments of his dauntless life and explains how painting has eventually saved his life recounting in a very bold and generous manner this artistic salvation from hitting rock bottom to rising again through paint and brushes.

Calvet’ has become an internationally critically acclaimed documentary featured in many countries and international festivals. It will be exceptionally screened this autumn in London on 24th October at the prestigious Royal Academy of Art, in collaboration with the East End Festival.

Looking at Jean-Marc Calvet’s work is a genuine experience of explosive visual art where one dives into his soul, his dreams and his fears. ‘I paint by necessity, without thought. I allow my unconscious mind to guide my hand. I cultivate my obsessions by making use of my demons and my ghosts to pull a creative energy from them. An artist is above all an antennae - an emotional receptor opening a passage into different worlds.’ Calvet is a self-taught artist, an outsider in every spirit of the word. His first works were crude explosions of his inner turmoil exploding on any surface. Many years on, Calvet delivers a marked sophistication in his works that adds clarity yet maintains the spirit of the true brut style that birthed him as an artist. His paintings typically combine primal graphics with intricate levels of detail. The spectator is equally mesmerized by bright colours and abstract expressionism where arise strong and complicated feelings. This primitive graffiti style would be qualified as ‘art brut’, as colour was originally flung on a wall during a cathartic trance, haunted with paranoia and delusions. On closer inspection yet the spectator face a composition executed with skill, patience and almost monastic devotion. Each piece of art speaks for itself in a language that is unique but universal.

At first Calvet painted for survival, now he paints to make his life better and for emotional stability. And if one day having reached complete contentment in his life Jean-Marc had to wake up with nothing in his head, then he would surely create a powerful painting about it. This is why we love Jean Marc’s art so genuinely!