Sébastien Mahon

There are artists for whom it is more interesting to listen to the lessons and reflections drawn from their experiences rather than to list the number of spaces in which they have exhibited. Sébastien Mahon is one of them.
During a conversation he quickly passes on his time at the Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux where he was introduced to the influences of the time which oscillate between free figuration, or the dominant currents of contemporary art as conceptual art.
Without finishing the course, he then turned towards graphic training which would bring him into visual communication in Paris, as an illustrator, and "roughman". Favoring painting away from the project of making a living from it, he nevertheless pursues his passion, without losing sight of the idea of making it an activity in its own right.
After an artist residency and an exhibition in New York, the real turning point came with a departure to China in 2008. His new family life took him to Beijing, where his wife took up a post. He spent around ten years there in Beijing then in Shanghai, experimenting, sharing and exchanging both culturally and professionally.
He describes a period of astonishment as a foreigner, which he will also appreciate as a form of liberation.
He observes new ways of creating, which, in his own words, regulate his relationship with time, and with the adventure of creating a work. The discovery of a world, new supports and materials, such as paper, and Asian philosophy offer him new possibilities, gradually transforming his outlook. In China, he created pine trees from his region using Indian ink, a way of beginning his return to the country and connecting the adventure of this long stay.
Today, back in Bordeaux, he continues his experiments with ink and paper in his workshop, without having broken the painting of his previous work, bringing together the natural Westernness of his work, with the Asian influences on which he has drawn since. .