Tout le monde aime papa

The exhibition presents a series of paintings characterized by their minimalist approach and pursuit of immediate impact. Each work is composed of a flesh-toned background, developed through the layering of thin coats, thereby creating a nuanced depth and subtle richness. The subject, applied in bitumen—a dense, glossy, and symbolic material—disrupts this balance, introducing a materialized tension between the softness of the background and the roughness of the material.
The themes explored are deeply connected to the environment in which the artist grew up: the Walloon countryside, a territory marked by violence, debauchery, and exuberance. These are not external narratives, but lived realities—integrated and absorbed. These scenes are ingrained in his memory. The artist approaches them with severity and derision, but also with a measure of tenderness, as they speak about people, gestures, and places that were dear to him and that, despite their harshness, truly mattered.
The works emerge from a rigorous process, where every element—or its absence—is conceived to establish a powerful dialogue between the material and the pictorial space. The sobriety of the forms and the rigor of the textures invite the viewer to directly confront essential questions about authenticity, materiality, and the complexity of lived experiences.
Ultimately, Tout le monde aime papa questions what remains within us from the places we traverse and the figures that have left their mark. Far from being judgmental, these paintings explore the complexity of an ambivalent attachment, comprised of both distance and intimacy. Between matter and silence, between tension and restraint, they shape a mental territory where memory, critique, and affection coexist without ever being fully resolved.