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Biography of Philippe Argatti
The painter and multidisciplinary artist Philippe Argentin, known as Argatti, was born in Fécamp (Haute-Normandie) in 1945. He briefly studied at the Beaux-Arts du Havre in the early 1960s (1961-1963). He became a member, in 1962, of the Union of Plastic Arts of Le Havre, then of Saint-Etienne du Rouvray, of which he will be the president between 2010 and 2014. Philippe Argatti exhibited his work for the first time in Le Havre in 1962, then in 1968 at his first solo exhibition at the Saint Michel Gallery in the same city. From then on, he participated in numerous collective exhibitions and obtained several commissions within the framework of the 15% art program.
Initially figurative, Argatti's painting evolved from 1968 onwards towards abstraction which allowed him to better express his inner world. From the beginning, the young artist proceeded by crossing out. The gesture, in his abstract canvases, engravings or sculptures, always remains visible. His production is immediately prolific. The strikethrough is a kind of writing, the expression of a real anger and violence, and yet his works express a paradoxical quietude. Gradually, no object or figure will be found in his works - nothing that can be named; yet they are not meant to be non-figurative at all. By scratching the surface, Philippe Argatti wants to discover what lies beneath the appearances of things and beings.The multiple paths taken by the artist during his long creative journey are all at the service of his spiritual quest, always refocused around a great inner demand. The artist is undeniably attracted by the relationship of space between the empty and the full. His plastic expression is resolutely contemporary, painting the material.Among all the paths taken, printmaking holds a significant place. Philippe Argatti has been regularly producing lithographs, engravings or serigraphs for many years, and more recently digital prints.