Exposition JC Leroux

Um, um?,

Let me tell you that as a kid I didn’t have a mom or dad (or later on, for that matter). You don’t care, and you’re right.

You say I’m completely self-taught (well, almost). You couldn’t care less about that either—you’d rather be smashing a clam shell against the bottom of a sink with a lobster claw.

The fact remains, though, that I paint—I paint… just like you, just like my cousin (who I don’t have), just like my neighbor who’s repainting his pool.

This kind of thing has been a part of my life since I was a teenager (13, 14 years old), right up to this day at the age of eighty-three, and even beyond.

What do I paint? A ritual question that’s been asked of me thousands of times, and to which I’ve answered thousands of times, “Um…?”

JC Leroux “A Little About Me (and Others, Too)”

A typical teenager like the rest of us, around 14 or 15, with no real passions (sports, clubs, girls, delinquency, etc., etc.). None of that.

My only pursuit at the time: drawing (the only decent grade on my report card).

Painting came along around the same time thanks to an older artist who was well-known in his day; for three years, every week, he introduced me to this technique of working with color.

Around the age of 18, I exhibited at various art shows in and around Paris, winning a few prizes and medals here and there.

At age 24, I exhibited in Parisian galleries.

At age 27, I got married, and by mutual agreement with my wife, I gave up my artistic practice. For the next twenty-five years, I followed developments in the art world but no longer painted.

In my fifties, with my children now independent, I tentatively picked up my brushes again. Five quiet years of relearning followed.

Then, in 1998, I resumed exhibiting in various locations, including Japan and Mexico.

I exhibited several times at Puls’Art (Le Mans) as well as at MacParis (Paris).

I received numerous awards, including first prize at Saint-Grégoire and the prize at the Lyon Winter Salon.

Worked for over 10 years with a major gallery in Annecy, which allowed me to expand my client base to Switzerland, Germany, and Italy.

I continue to exhibit my work to this day.