MARC LE BOT

In this context, David Smyth's works follow an exemplary line of behaviour. Far from being dogmatic, far from letting himself be tempted by nihilism, he has shown that he is not only aware of the questions which are asked of art today, but above all that he has a keen understandnig of the "means" at the disposal of contemporary art which are necessary for it to continue making progress. And various means are available. Each one of the apparently has its own role to play in David Smyth's painthigs, marked by a sense of marked by a sense of freedom or even of insolence which propels freedom or even of insolence which propels them in turn into the foreground. Faced with the explosive forces which surface there, the painter nonetheless wishes to imposes certain principles of order on the whole. Although

FIGURES AND BACKGROUNDS

As a rule, we pick out figures which stand out from the background in paintings. We perceive individuals against a backdrop of architecture or countryside, creating a global vision for ourselves by linking these two elements. However, as art lovers, we can also focus on one or the other. Now, in David Smyth's paintings, a special force first draws us towards the background. Sometimes this force of attraction is so strong that we wonder whether, while he was working, the painter was distracted or even captivated by the background of the bare canvas on which his first strokes have been applied in a play of colours. We get the same impression when standing in front of "Venice" (1994) where blues of various intensities and tones are spread out generously over the painted surface. Blue is the dominant colour, even if it is pierced by greens and ochres, or perhaps it is the other way round. A similar technique is played with to striking effect in "Fractures" (1994). Nevertheless, now and again, contoured shapes imprint themselves on backgrounds which, in turn, appear to be relatively shapeless because the edges of the colours are quite vague.