Now Shenzhen | April 24, 2023
“China’s art market is one of the most important worldwide. While Guangzhou is the first city welcoming my works. That’s why I decided to develop my career in this city,” said Jean Michel Stanislas Garczynski, a French artist who has lived in Guangzhou for 12 years, during an interview with GDToday.
The beauty of Guangzhou triggers Michel’s shift in art concept
Before his fifties, Jean Michel spent most of his life in France and ran a design company of luxury goods in Paris, profitable and resourceful. However, he decided to be a painter and settle down in Guangzhou when he could enjoy his retired life.
“I still have the urge to chase after my dreams instead of doing nothing. As an important market for art, Guangzhou is a place that can make my dream come true and most of the buyers of my works are from Guangzhou,” Michel told GDToday.
In 2008, Michel’s paintings were showcased in an exhibition in Shanghai with few audiences. Two years later, he came to Guangzhou for an exhibition, in which his works were appreciated by Guangzhou residents instead. Then he had the idea to further develop his career in this city.
When Michel was in France, most of his works were finished indoors. After settling in Guangzhou, he started to try sketching outdoors more and more, driven by the beautiful natural scenery in the city.
“Being a well-known city of flowers and scenery, Guangzhou is a perfect place for sketches. Guangzhou’s beauty can always inspire me. I painted Guangzhou’s flowers like tabebuia chrysantha and bauhinia, as well as beautiful sites like Baomo Garden, Shawan Town, Shamian, Gull Island, Pearl River, and others,” said Michel.
Special customs and street life in Guangzhou inspire Michel
Each year in May, when the Dragon Boat Festival is approaching, rivers in Guangzhou will always be filled with dragon boats, with residents practicing or racing. This special custom in Guangzhou impressed Michel a lot.
“I remember that, years before, I heard drums and shouting someday nearing Dragon Boat Festival. I rushed out from my studio with paper and brushes once I knew it was a dragon boat race going on downstairs. Then I painted while catching up with those boats, which were very fast. To finish this painting, I ran for four hundred meters or so and sweated a lot,” Michel told GDToday with excitement.
Apart from traditional cultures, Michel also gets inspiration when he travels the highways and byways of Guangzhou.
“I would like to go to the local food markets from time to time because I eat a lot of eggs and chicken every day. And I also find inspiration from there. This is an art piece made from egg trays that I collected in the past year. I painted them with different colors and made them into seven boxes, symboling seven planets. Eggs are symbolic of life and circles and their shapes are like planets, so I got this idea,” shared Michel.
To marry a Chinese girl regardless of 28 years’ age gap
In 2010, aged 53, Michel met Suzanne, who is 28 years younger than him, at Guangzhou International Art Fair, where Suzanne helped Michel a lot as his interpreter and assistant. After being partners at work for years, Michel and Suzanne have developed special feelings for each other.
“Suzanne helped me a lot in my work and witnessed the shift of my art conception, which is important for me. I like her personality, her wisdom, and her herself,” Michel gave his reasons for falling in love with Suzanne.
However, in the beginning, Suzanne’s parents were hesitant about their 28-year age gap, because they would like her to have a stable life.
“Suzanne’s parents came to Guangzhou to live with us for a short time. We toured them around Guangzhou, pretending like work relations. We didn’t tell them the truth until they knew me well. And they have seen how harmonious and happy we are, so they gradually accept me,” said Michel.
Now, Michel and Suzanne live a peaceful life in Guangzhou, planning to have a baby this year and build their family.
Art and amour. These are the reasons why Michel loves Guangzhou.
ARTICLE FROM: GD Today (NewsGD.com)