Toma-L

Artworks

Profile

It is at the time of a retrospective Dubuffet in Beaubourg that the matricial shock occurs. Art imposes itself; remedy, outlet, reason to breathe and to be in the world.

"Sometimes I think that if Dubuffet has painted, he has at least done it for me. Of course this is to be considered with humor, but still... My eyes were opened to something that could allow me to connect with the world." T. L.

Toma-L paints from the stomach, from the heart. He paints to meet an instinctive need, he paints freely, on the fringe of reflections.

This concentration on the stroke, the line, the motif, leads the artist to the territories of lyrical abstraction, free figuration, abstract expressionism, and art brut, all of which have the predominance of the gesture as an inking point. 

The lines emerge from the depths of inspiration, the forms seize all the opportunities offered by the support.

Papers, canvases, performances, monumental installations, Toma-L constantly reinvents his pictorial practice. He joins forces with other artists - video artists, dancers, photographers, editors, graphic designers - to project his universes ever further. He succeeds in this difficult challenge of permanent metamorphosis, without ever abandoning anything of himself.

"Painting remains my shield. I will never give up." T. L.

Biography

Thomas Labarthe is a French visual artist born in 1975 in Périgueux. He lives and works bewteen Nantes and Marseille.

In 2001, Thomas discovered Jean Dubuffet at the Centre Pompidou. A retrospective exhibition that constitutes for him as a "real shock". Three months later, he painted Mala bestia, his first canvas. He now exhibits in across France Paris, Carhaix, Nantes, Tours. In 2006, he also presented Figures Libres at the Altercultura Center in Barcelona.

Initially an outlet, his creation becomes more and more structured. Thomas Labarthe finds his formats, begins to define his masses, his forms and his colors. 

Rich and fertile, his experience of life in Spain links him to the vibrant southern colours.

Between 2008 and 2009, he is exhibited in France and travels several times to New York for residencies.

In 2012 he met Eric Landau. Since then Toma-L is a permanent artist of Gallery W. 


Exhibitions (selection)

2022

Retro-Crade, Galerie Gaïa, Nantes

Divine, group show, Galerie Macadam, Brussels

2021

AAF Bruxelles, Contemporary Art Fair, Galerie Macadam, Brussels

Pont des Ral, Galerie Macadam, Brussels

Lille Art Up!, Contemporary Art Fair, Galerie Saltiel, Lille

Paint House, Amalgame Gallery, Dubaï

OUT 2, group show, Galerie C.O.A, Montreal 

2020

WBC, Galerie W, Paris

Galeristes, Contemporary Art Fair, Galerie W, Paris

Colors in the house, group show, Manifesta, Lyon 

W-Art United Festival, Galerie W, Paris

Il peint sur Nantes, Galerie Gaïa, Nantes

OUT, group show, Galerie C.O.A, Montreal

2019

Simple Brut, Galerie Saltiel, Aix-en-Provence

Art Elysées, Contemporary Art Fair, Galerie Saltiel, Paris

St-art, Contemporary Art Fair, Galerie Saltiel, Strasbourg

Brute de bois, Domaine des Peyre, Robion

Querelle Carbone, Le Cosmonaute, Paris 

Spring Group Show, group show, Galerie Macadam, Brussels

- Permanent hanging, Galerie Frevo, New York 

2018

Bonne Pierre Bon Oeil, Musée de l'Imprimerie, Nantes

St-art, Contemporary Art Fair, Galerie Saltiel, Strasbourg

Art Elysées, Contemporary Art Fair, Galerie Saltiel, Paris

At Home, Amalgame Gallery, Houston, Texas 

Lille Art Up!, Contemporary Art Fair, Galerie Saltiel, Lille

2017

Stone Age G.697, Galerie Trajectoire, Tours

St-art, Contemporary Art Fair, Galerie Saltiel, Strasbourg

HOBO'S, Arts Festival, Lourmarin

8e Avenue, Contemporary Art Fair, Galerie Saltiel, Paris

IN SIDE, Galerie Macadam, Brussels

2016

St-art, Contemporary Art Fair, Galerie Saltiel, Strasbourg

Droit au brut, Galerie des Tuiliers, Lyon

8e Avenue, Contemporary Art Fair, Galerie Saltiel, Paris

Résolutions, Institut Français de Tunis, Tunis

Gratte que Gratte, Galerie Saltiel, Aix-en-Provence 

Let me be your hero, group show, Ghaya Gallery, La Marsa, Tunisia

2015

70 Art for Haïticharity auction to benefit Haïti, Galerie W, Paris

Art 3F, Contemporary Art Fair, Galerie du Levant, Montpellier

8e Avenue, Contemporary Art Fair, Galerie Saltiel, Paris

St-art, Contemporary Art Fair, Galerie Saltiel, Strasbourg

Tribute, group show, Galerie Saltiel, Aix-en-Provence

Paper Love, Galerie W, Paris

Lille Art Up!, Contemporary Art Fair, Galerie Saltiel, Lille


Publications (selection)

2020

WBC, exhibition catalogue, studio Deux Point Deux, Galerie W, Paris

2016

- Gratte que Gratte, exhibition catalogue, studio Deux Point Deux, Galerie Saltiel, Aix-en-Provence

2014

Parazasites, exhibition catalogue, studio Deux Point Deux, Galerie La ZAC, Brest

2013

Sans Titre, testimony of the performance Désincarné, studio Deux Point Deux, Ballet d'Europe, Marseille-Provence 2013

2011

Vas-y, artist's book, studio Deux Point Deux, On Off Galerie, Marseille 


Collaborations (selection)

2019

Pierre de plus, documentary realized by Paul Chabot - Les Beaux Matins, Musée de l'Imprimerie, Nantes

2016

Résolution(s), documentary realized by Paul Chabot - Les Beaux Matins, Centre National de Céramique d'Art - Sidi Kacem Jelizi, Tunis

2015

Festival Les Rendez-vous de l'Erdre, projection on the building of la Minoterie, Nort-sur-Erdre 

2014

Festival Les Nuits d'été, digital installation, Chinon

2013

Désincarné, perfomance born from the meeting of the choreographer Jean-Charles Gil (Ballet d'Europe) and Toma-L, Marseille-Provence 2013, Allauch

Marquage Culotte, first clip of the quartet Ni, conducted by Paul Chabot - Les Beaux Matins, Moulin de Brainans, Brainans

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