The Complex Psychology of the Figure

untitled by Pascal Marlin
15.6″x21.3″; mixed media on cardboard
Courtesy of the artist.

FROM KOLAJ 27

Artist Portfolio: Pascal Marlin, Paris, France

In another time, Pascal Marlin would be a figure painter. He would paint models into mythological, allegorical, and historical scenes; animating the human body in a grand story on the canvas like Titian, Albrecht Dürer, or William-Adolphe Bouguereau did before him. The figure is a powerful subject because, more than any other, it is the most human way to see ourselves in art. From the muscular pose of Oedipus to the naked vulnerability of Olympia to the suffering of Christ, the figure in art draws out our emotions. In the hands of a talented collagist such as Marlin, the figure offers the viewer an opportunity to delve into complex psychology.

An Artist Portfolio of Pascal Marlin’s work appears in KOLAJ #27.

To see the complete Artist Portfolio, SUBSCRIBE to Kolaj Magazine or Get a Copy of the Issue.

man, interior and folding screen by Pascal Marlin
16.9″x21.7″; mixed media on cardboard
Courtesy of the artist.

“The human figure is omnipresent. To create my compositions, I draw my characters, then, mix pieces of different material: wallpapers, linocuts, painted radiographs, monotypes, stickers. What I paint is not premeditated. I start with the face and the technique develops by chance. The canvas dicates materials and colours.”

To see the complete Artist Portfolio, SUBSCRIBE to Kolaj Magazine or Get a Copy of the Issue.

Pascal Marlin is a self-taught artist living and working in Paris, France. He has been showing work since the late 1990s with solo shows in France, Belgium, and Luxembourg and in group shows in France, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Japan, and the U.S. His painting was awarded at the 1998 Salon de Mai and the 2011 Biennale 109, both in Paris. Learn more about the artist and his work at www.saatchiart.com/marlin.