10 Questions with Maxime Déria

Al-Tiba9 Art Magazine ISSUE17 | Featured Artist

Maxime Déria, a passionate French artist, explores the intricacies of his life through spontaneous and captivating art. He embraced painting in 2022, marking an artistic renewal. The collaboration with the famous brand Desperados in 2023 added a new dimension to his creative expression. Attached to his Breton region, Maxime draws his inspiration from Breton history and culture, drawing particular inspiration from the works of Raymond Hains and Jacques Villeglé, discovered at the School of Fine Arts of Saint-Brieuc. Collage, a technique he has developed in recent years, enriches his creative process. His work, imbued with intuition, results in subliminal messages and hidden references. Maxime, firmly believing in the professionalization of his art, encourages spectators to contemplate his works attentively, thus revealing the emotional richness and complexity of his artistic universe. His determination to share vibrant art invites everyone to explore the multiple layers of his artistic expression.

@maxime_deria

ARTIST STATEMENT

Completely self-taught, Maxime Déria instinctively grasped the rigor of collage in the manner of Jacques Villeglé or Raymond Hains, appropriating the medium to tell fragments of personal history. The painting completes and contributes to the overall dynamism of the images.

In accordance with his time and transposing the subjects in a breath of renewal, Maxime Déria reinvents the gesture of tearing away towards sculptural reflections. His sense of aesthetics reveals an assertive positioning and a culture that is refined both through popular imagery and art history.

AL-TIBA9 ART MAGAZINE ISSUE17

INTERVIEW

As a self-taught artist, how did you discover your interest in art? What inspired you to pursue a career in this field?

Like everyone else, as a child, we all held a pencil and drew, and I would say that's where it all began. After that, I continued drawing, constantly seeking to improve, and it was also a way for me to give form to the different things I imagined. Later, my interest shifted primarily toward graffiti, which I would see on the streets or along roads during car journeys. Until the end of 2021, after feeling like I had exhausted that avenue, I completely stopped. I then transitioned to acrylic painting and collage because I wanted to explore new things and find a solution for working on canvas. I lived my childhood before the arrival of the Internet. For me, being born in 1991 was a blessing, as I could experience my entire childhood without being absorbed by computers or phone screens. The arrival of the Internet was quite late, late enough to force me to entertain myself using my imagination, which allowed me to develop it from an early age. Then, when a computer arrived home, it brought a lot to me. I was able to discover the work of great artists like Basquiat, Warhol, Pollock, and many others. It's true that my artistic education was entirely self-taught, just as my artistic practice took many years before it reached the form it has today. The desire to pursue an artistic career now comes from the fact that I did not study at an art school, and my overall schooling was a big failure. Once I became an adult, I didn't have many options or a clear path. I ended up working in various factory jobs, always with the will to escape this situation by the only path available to me. That path is to do everything I can to establish a strong visual identity for my work and my network.

Could you tell us about the influence of artists like Raymond Hains and Jacques Villeglé on your work?

After Covid in 2020 and the lockdowns, I wanted to engage in a collective activity, a desire to reconnect with others for a shared goal. I turned to the art school in Saint-Brieuc and attended Saturday morning drawing classes for adults. After several classes, I became interested in the school's gallery and its name: the Raymond Hains Gallery. That's when I discovered the work of Raymond Hains and Jacques Villeglé, as well as the technique of collage. I felt a desire to carry on their work through mine, mainly because they were both Bretons like me. Raymond Hains was born in the same town as me, which is very important to me. I found the collage technique to be a good transition after my desire to stop drawing and focus solely on canvas work. They reassured me in a way.

What role does your Breton heritage play in your art, and how does it influence your themes?  How did you approach the art of collage for the first time? What drew you to this medium?

Mainly because I still live here and have always lived here, my main encounters and experiences take place in Brittany. This is mainly how it inspires me. I started collage art in January 2022 after receiving some painting materials as a Christmas birthday gift. It started as a challenge, and I really got into it. I really enjoy the creative possibilities, both with images mostly from women's magazines that I use for their photographs and with various papers I find, like labels or other papers such as advertising brochures. Text is important to me because it allows me to define the title of the work. I mainly use French text because the magazines I use are in French. This comes from the fact that nowadays, we see a lot of English text, whether in advertising or elsewhere, and I prefer to go against the grain of all that. Even though it may complicate the reading of the work for an audience that doesn't speak French, my language is part of my identity and, to me, adds something extra to the work. Also, after traveling a bit abroad, I realized that when I can't read the language of the country, whether on posters or flyers, the text immediately seems more mysterious. I wanted to use this point, even if I didn't perceive it myself.

You incorporate subliminal messages and hidden references into your work, as mentioned in your statement.Could you explain your process of integrating these layers?

For the subliminal messages, I use the images, the text, and the work as a whole. It's mostly a game for me, but also a way to keep some mystery because I see my work as a personal diary. However, since I also want to share my work with as many people as possible, I play with different strategies and hidden winks in text and image manipulation. It could be a reminder of a past event, a meeting, or a love story that I wanted to give a discreet nod to. Without having to explain it clearly to the viewer who might ask about the work, I leave myself some exit doors.

How do intuition and spontaneity guide your creative process? Do you plan your compositions, or do you let them evolve naturally?

When I'm at the store picking out magazines, I quickly flip through them to see if there are interesting images. When I choose the paint, I simply think, "This color is beautiful," and it's the same for colored paper. It's once I get home that I start working on a piece. I either start by gluing something or by adding paint, depending on the situation, and this can take several days or just one afternoon. It really varies from one piece to another. Since I don't plan anything in advance and don't do any preparatory work, I let myself be guided by what I have at hand: the magazines, the paint, and the colored paper until I see where it leads me. For the paint, it helps me tie the images and text together to provide stability to the work, as well as evoke emotions.

How did your collaboration with Desperados in 2023 influence your artistic expression?

The collaboration with Desperados gave me the experience of an artist residency. I worked in a different way compared to my usual work because it was for an advertising campaign. It was a wonderful experience that gave me the chance to see different posters in the Paris metro, in large format in Rennes, and also in Saint-Brieuc. A great joy, especially since I had only started painting and collage just a year before. Avery exciting start. Later, it allowed me to collaborate with a young surfboard brand from Les Sables-d'Olonne, Tools Surfboard. Anotherfantastic experience. I hope viewers find a part of themselves in it, but most importantly, I hope it brings them good vibes and positive emotions, as I mainly focus on positive emotions.

Looking ahead, how do you see the "professionalization" of your art, and what steps are you taking to achieve this?

In my opinion, having a European vision is essential. I say European, not global, because for now, I'm doing my first exhibition outside of France. As for the U.S. or Australia, they still seem too far off. But for now, I see the future as trulyEuropean, continuing to travel as I did for the first time on my own this year, with a short trip to Copenhagen to visit a gallery. I want to keep connecting with different people, both in Paris and in various European capitals. My English is not perfect yet, but this will help me work on it. And the language barrier doesn't really hold me back; I'm going for it and seeing what happens.

Finally, are there any new themes or techniques you're excited to explore in your future projects?

My work will evolve, and although it may take a lot of time, I'm not too worried. How will it evolve? I don't know yet.