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VIGILANCE
Acrylique sur toile 50 x 40 cm Collection privée New York
RADBAD
peinture sur toile 50 x 60 cm
CONTEMPLATION
peinture sur panneau 50 x 70 cm
Collection privée
SAINT HUBERT
Acrylique sur toile 115 x 89cm
ANGELIQUE
Acrylique sur toile 65 x 54-cm
DE PROFUNDIS
peinture sur panneau 50 x 70 cm
MOI, NARCISSE ?
Acrylique sur toile 60 x 60 cm
14 JUILLET
Acrylique sur toile 146 x 89 cm
RAPELLE-TOI, BARBARA
peinture sur toile 70 x 70 cm
ROMEO ET JULIETTE
Acrylique sur toile 146 x 89 cm
UN-SAUT DE L'ANGE
Acrylique sur toile 100 x 73-cm
JEAN-LUC BRAESCH , THE GARGOYLES.
One always returns to first loves : to one’s birthplace, Strasbourg, Alsace. After graduating with distinction from the Superior School of Decorative Arts, Jean-Luc Braesch moved to Paris. There, he became Art Director for advertising agencies including Havas, McCann Erickson, CLMBBDO and Saatchi & Saatchi. Once awarded a prize from the Billboard Museum, he was named to the examining jury of the Art Director’s Club. He then spent many years directing the creative division of the OCDE’s publishing department.
Back in Alsace, Jean-Luc now paints the ruins of Vosges mountain chateaux, as well as their sovereign, Notre-Dame de Strasbourg. With its gothic sandstone ornamentation and harmonious overall structure celebrated by none other than the great Goethe, the cathedral has impacted imaginations far beyond the romantic tradition. Jean-Luc Braesch’s studio is just a few steps from the edifice. Every day he passes under the famous gargoyles, born of the countless medieval geniuses who sculpted them.
They still confront witnesses of today, as if such imaginary beasts could perform exorcisms on the living and inhabit a magical place of refuge between heaven and earth. Guarding the sanctuary and yet demonic, the multifaceted gargoyle population repel evil and ward off bad spells, while at the same time they warn against stray destructive impulses. In today’s world, all living beings are endangered.
There are many enemies, including an overwhelming cultural entropy. It may, then, be natural for these supernatural beings to both take and offer shelter in such a holy places, sanctuaries for a common survival. Far from abstractions that disfigure their subjects or disorient their objects, these stone spirits at one and the same time prefigure a utopian dream and predict pending disaster.
They seem alive with their humble but persistent commentary, whether expressing the nostalgia for faith, the adoration of creative beauty, or the suggestion of a place where spirit might transcend mortal matter. Jean-Luc’s paintings capture all of the complex ideas inhabiting the Strasbourg gargoyles.
James H.RUBIN
Historien d’art,
University of New York
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