Christian Pendelio

Biography

Christian Pendelio (b.1967) from France was fascinated by the art of drawing at a young age, Pendelio was inspired by the comic books which he spent hours reading in the library. The self-taught French artist began his artistic career by producing and selling comic strips and watercolor paintings. He developed a particular penchant for expressing poetic metaphors using symbols such as birds, butterflies, hearts and flowers to bring out the poetry of life. Pendelio’s works are now displayed in private collections all over the world, particularly in France, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Christian is most famous for turning his canvas into a magical world of fairy tales, spiced with witty allegories. His passion for life and his faith in love give his work a whimsical touch. The dreamy paintings present not only a playful tone, but also gives way the stories and romance concocted within his mind. Landscape is more than just a depiction of a scenery, but the imagery deduced from fantasy and voyages, as well as the projection of inner feelings; whereas a voyage is often a process of discovery and evocation of emotions and wishes, long-forgotten or buried deep in one’s heart.

On Childhood Tales
by Christian Pendelio

Our childhood memories are invaluable. If we compare our lives to a kind of "gold rush", we as prospectors seek what is precious in life by shaking and turning gold pans in the water. Whatever enters the pans are mainly sifted out, but the prized treasures are always left behind at the bottom.

To me, childhood tales are gold in our existence, and should remain throughout our lives. The memories of aged men and women are often summoned throughout time and transformed into an eternal come-back. What I attempt to find through the art of painting is to achieve something close to this: the enjoyment, the surprising, the marvellous aspects of life – with perhaps a special touch of fantasy. For me, a child’s world is free of reality where the frontier between the real and imaginary world are completely abolished.
 
Through my most recent paintings, I have attempted to explore reality and fantasy as two distinct yet conjoined points on a roof. The brown and white colours represent memories of true existence, captured and eternalised in sepia photographs. The vivid, bright rainbows of colour symbolize a projection of emotions and fantasies of childhood flights of fancy. The creation of these images were inspired by Paul Klee’s words: "Art does not reproduce the visible – it makes it.”

Some may find that attempting to ‘catch’ or preserve the flowers of my own childhood garden, as narcissistic. And perhaps in a way, it is; a common problem among artists. I simply hope this ‘mirror of a narcissist’ is large enough to project yourself onto; to discover merriment, figments of a child’s imagination and most importantly, gold.