Manuel Luballo
Manuel Ruballo is one of France's leading painters of the 21st century, and his works are highly acclaimed not only in France but also in Japan, the United States, and Korea. In Japan, since 2007, Galerie Adekat has represented him as a contracted artist, organizing exhibitions primarily at famous department stores such as Mitsukoshi and Daimaru. In 2010, Ruballo himself visited Japan, and exhibitions of his paintings were held at Daimaru Kobe and Nagoya Mitsukoshi.
Ruballo's paintings feature motifs such as flowers, Venetian landscapes, and stormy nights. These subjects, starting from real-world scenes, are transformed by the artist's imagination into poetic and fantastical worlds.
Flowers take on a burning vitality, skies glow with light, and within the canvas, colors and light harmonize to create a rich symphony.
One of Ruballo's hallmarks is his significant emphasis on **matière (the texture of the paint)**.
He handles paint as if caressing it, blending and thickly layering it onto the canvas. His bold and natural brushstrokes seem an extension of his arm's movement, and this movement becomes the rhythm of the canvas, giving life to his works.
He also boldly uses pure colors like vermilion red and ultramarine blue, while softening the tension between colors with intermediate tones to create a rich harmony of hues.
Ruballo's works possess a dreamlike atmosphere where reality and dreams intertwine. Yet, this world is constructed with the artist's clear sensibility, created by consciously controlling the balance between the figurative and the abstract.
The pictorial world thus created is passionate yet poetic, guiding the viewer into a rich world of imagination.
(Review by Patrice de la Perrière
Magazine Univers des Arts No.147)
Biography
1958
Born in the suburbs of Paris
Awards
1995 Grand Prix, Nolay City Exhibition
2000 Grand Prix, Annet-sur-Marne City Exhibition
2001 Gold Medal, Salon de Gournay-sur-Marne
A.P.E. Award, Montreuil City Exhibition
Grand Prix, Salon d’Argenteuil
2002
Silver Medal, Arts, Sciences, and Letters Award
Gold Medal, Gournay-sur-Marne Salon d’Automne
Grand Prix Leonardo da Vinci Award, Salon de Nolay
2003
Gold Medal, Monfermeil Spring Salon
2004
Grand Prix, Evry City Exhibition
Exhibitions
Louvre National Society of Fine Arts Exhibition
Salon of French Artists
Paris City Salon, etc.
Guest of Honor
1999 Villepinte Forum de l’Emploi
2002 Salon d’Argenteuil
2003 Montevrain Salon d’Automne
2004 Annet-sur-Marne Salon d’Automne
2005 Courtry Spring Salon
Croissy-Beaubourg Salon d’Automne
2006 Salon de Saint-Germain-les-Corbeil
Salon de Montfermeil