Maurice Cadou-rocher (1940-2014) - Groupe Archipel - Nantes 1964

• Large mixed media on cardboard, ssigned and dated1967 lower right

• Very good overall condition

• 62 cm high x 42 cm wide

"Maurice Cadou-Rocher began his artistic career as a self-taught artist. A child from Nantes, he had been painting from an early age, and found within himself the strength for a singular, independent expression. It was therefore natural that the steps of this solitary artist, who began exhibiting in 1964, should join those of the Archipel artists.

Cadou-Rocher's art is first and foremost an instinctive art, enriched by Cubism, then by Surrealism, to which he never gave in. Like Joan Miró or Gaston Chaissac, whose works he appreciates, his research is autonomous, he doesn't copy. He starts without preconceived ideas. The drawing fumbles along, the lines constantly changing, until a shape emerges and imposes itself: often a head or a face. Variations on this motif seek to bring out something unknown from the same face.

His expressive, spontaneous drawing and often strong color intermingle at the edge of the identifiable, releasing unusual beings and forms far removed from reality.

Between 1965 and 1970, the artist found his own language. He created a personal technique based on wax, glue and water. By mixing materials, he creates unique glazes and colored transparencies. For this free-spirited artist, creation is protean. His plastic experiments gradually lead him to sculpture. This evolution can be seen in his more constructed compositions, with volumes and cut-out shapes combining dream and rigor. This same spirit can be found in his woodcarving, where shapes, heads and faces are born by following the wood rays."