Pétrarque en fleurs, 2023

Bruno Lecoq  

Bruno Lecoq has never stayed far from the workshop space which has followed him everywhere since 1978.

This space is above all his imagination which expresses itself in a thousand and one ways but which always expresses itself. A blank sheet of paper, pencils, a photo, scissors, figurines, brushes, plastic animals, glue, a graphic palette…

For him, everything is a pretext for creation. And for recreation, since humor is never far away. A twisted engraving, an old black and white portrait diverted, the same motif reinterpreted dozens of times, two or three works that ultimately become one: the artist is never caught off guard.

Born on August 1, 1962 in Tours, Bruno Lecoq opened his first studio in Lyon, on the banks of the Rhône, in 1979. He immediately abandoned the academic references instilled in him, particularly during his studies in visual arts and art history, and threw himself frantically into a long period of apprenticeship with a very pronounced taste for expressionism, African art, art brut and high reliefs. His first painting-sculptures were noticed by the poet Philippe Soupault, one of the fathers of surrealism, who discovered the work of the young creator at his Lyon publisher Jacques Marie Laffont.

At the invitation of the Jean Charveriat gallery, he exhibited his sculptures (clays draped in painted fabrics) the same year. The artist then took a first break and multiplied his experiments.

Having become a journalist to satisfy his tireless curiosity, he created his own gastronomy magazine, Lecoq Gourmand, in 1987.

In 1994, although he had never stopped painting, he returned to exhibitions with a first appointment at the Galerie du Saint-Pétersbourg in Mougins (06). This was a group exhibition.
In 1995 he had a first decisive meeting with Iléana Bouboulis, a young Parisian gallery owner and daughter of Sophia Vari, sculptor and wife of Fernando Botero.

A first Parisian exhibition was dedicated to him by the Iléana Bouboulis gallery in September 1996. "Papiers composé" marked his artistic career with his first sales and the adoption of a means of expression which he still sometimes uses today: collage.

In 1997, another beautiful artistic encounter took place with the master glassmaker Jean-Claude Novaro in Biot, Galerie du Patrimoine. "A surprising and stimulating face-to-face" wrote Jean-Michel Ulmann in the Culture pages of the weekly Impact Médecin.

In 1998, Bruno Lecoq returned to Paris with Iléana Bouboulis for a group exhibition.

In 1999 he exhibited in the Var at the Hostellerie des Gorges de Pennafort

In 2000, he met the promoter Guy Merlin who decided to support him as a patron. Which he did generously for a little over two years.

That same year in July 2000, Alain Agostini (Art World Gallery) offered a new major personal exhibition in Cannes, a stone's throw from La Croisette. "Happiness is outside the window" will be the subject of numerous press articles and TV reports.

In 2001, on the initiative of Patrick Scicard (Chairman of the Board of Directors of Lenôtre), it was the brand new Café Lenôtre that had just opened on rue d'Antibes in Cannes that welcomed him in style with the "Jardins Secrets" exhibition that lasted all summer. A new success, many articles, many sales. The few paintings that remained were bought by a media-savvy restaurateur from Saint-Tropez who made them one of the key elements of his table decor. As an indication, the most expensive painting sold for 12,000 FF, which is today €2,398.

2001, 2002, 2003

Bruno Lecoq has a studio in rue Saint-Sauveur in Le Cannet: he will hold two openings there.
In June 2002 he exhibited at the Sofitel in Lyon.

In 2003 he exhibited at the restaurant Le Provençal in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat.

At the end of 2003, it was probably written, the artist who remained a journalist was entrusted by Joël Garcia with the editing of the magazine Cimaise, which was at the time the oldest contemporary art magazine to be sold in newsstands. These few years were the occasion for meetings with important artists such as Jean-Michel Follon with whom Bruno Lecoq would have a lasting friendly relationship: the artist became the sponsor of a competition imagined by Bruno Lecoq for the Café Lenôtre on the occasion of Mother's Day: "Dessine-moi un gâteau". It was on the artist's magnificent yacht, "Over the Rainbow" stopping over in Nice after being restored in Italy, that Bruno Lecoq began to dream of a boat... A dream that he would realize much later in 2011 by purchasing the Lady Jasmine, a 1936 gentleman motoryacht on board which he still resides today when he stays in Paris.

In 2004, he organized an exhibition of Philippe Berry's sculptures at La Voile d'Or in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat.
Other exhibitions will follow: Nathalie Decoster, Sofia Vari (for her jewelry sculptures).

In 2006, he created the art magazine Contemporain(s) with a publisher from Nice. This was another opportunity for wonderful encounters with artists he had the luxury of choosing: Louis Cane, Philippe Berry, Gérard Titus-Carmel, etc.

From 2007 to 2017

During these ten years, Bruno Lecoq devoted himself more to his career as a journalist than to artistic creation, even if the latter never left him: a room in his home was systematically dedicated to this activity. Whenever he can, he devotes articles to artists he appreciates.

In 2017, Bruno Lecoq organized an exhibition with chef Nicolas Conraux for his friend Philippe Berry at L'Hôtel La Butte in Plouider in Finistère. This exhibition, which brought Bruno Lecoq even closer to Philippe Berry, was a real success. "Jeux de Ballons" enjoyed great media coverage and many works were sold. Bruno Lecoq would later be behind the publication of three lithographs by the artist.

From 2019 to today

In 2019, Tentation magazine published a full-page photo of the artist: “Rotterdam".

Free, his artistic work uses multiple means of expression: acrylic paint, ink, diverted photos and engravings, collages, drawings… Small installations most often made with toys or trivial objects for which the artist imagines a scenario that is often surreal, poetic, sometimes provocative, most often humorous and with a double reading. Photographed, his images are then reworked manually and digitally and printed. They are offered either in the original version (unique piece), or in a numbered edition (8 copies in general), signed and dated or in an enhanced version (therefore unique), also signed and dated.

Bruno Lecoq, who currently lives between Paris and Vienne (86), continues to create almost every day, for the pure pleasure of creation.