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There is certainly a touch of manga in the work of Philhelm. But it would be a mistake to limit his work to this aspect, for there is also a surrealist birth of forms and colours, reminiscent of the works of Tanguy and Léger. Moreover, the artist also introduces the details related to the stories that he evokes by achieving much more than simply reproducing them (for instance the Etruscan, Babylonian or Assyrian history).

Let’s listen to the artist speaking about his work. “I decline the colours in correspondence with images and the original writings in order to rediscover a very small history of the past in which my monogram would always have been present as an archetype”.

This approach is the fruit of a revelation that the artist also underlines: “one day the Gods came to meet me! They deigned to present me with their messengers accompanied by their sphinx : I beg their pardon if I dare quote them in the joy of my heart, even if I have no self- consciousness in crying for mercy”. Thus, the work becomes ascension, or rather rejuvenation. Philhelm revives legends, old acquaintances. But the way in which he approaches them is worth more than the treaties of the knowledge of archaeology, even if he borrows some elements from them.

Thus, Philhelm revives unlikely horizons, a quivering continuation of places, signalling not their loss, but their revival. From there on – and through his particular graphics more modern than he imagines it himself- these places, more than a comeback, signal headway in a world that resembles places the artist evokes.

For example, when he creates a world entitled: “When the gods were humans”.

Isn’t that what they often believe to be today? This world is also a universe of the future, because we lose our footing, we fly away from it. It’s through the experience of our ancestors that Philhelm almost brings us well-being and phosphorescence. Besides, it allows us to measure space and time. Suddenly they are open to a cosmos that the artist forces us to “convert to”.

He is, therefore, taking us to another dwelling. This dwelling becomes evident, on the one hand, and a sort of science-fiction of a particular kind, on the other.

Each monogram frames and unframes the references proposed even by modern times. This is why his approach –if it is not recalling the surrealism already mentioned- also finds connections not only with the manga but also with a certain street art, the forms and “flash” colours of which the artist revives. From that time onwards the vision has to move beyond the strange dashes which Philhelm proposes with his creative impulses able to imagine frescoes for our time. By giving them such a language both figural and dream-like, the artist introduces the remote to the close at hand. In this way, the ascent and extent of these legends of a past time –that suddenly repeat themselves to our delight- seem stronger.

We penetrate a strange dwelling. We wander in its neighbourhood between the known and unknown between the real and unreal, past and future. Freeing ourselves from our ground, from our premises, the monogramist drowns us in his genius of the premises for an evanescent epiphany. His out of time cosmography becomes an open plenitude. Through the beauty of the works and their majesty, as ironical as it is lofty, a confrontation takes place between our culture and that which the artist exhumes not as a historian but as a “futurist” franc-tireur.

Forms and colours are fascinating; we are able to breathe without stifling. Thus, the past and the future form an unforeseen wedlock. A strange desire attracts us to an incomprehensible world. In short to something that surpasses us. We become the lovers of a disturbing ecstasy which discourages words:

Let Philhelm’s images speak…

Artrinet work analysis of PHILHELM

The classification provides four or more codes placed on four axis (A - formalism, B - matériality, C - involvement body/mind, D - communication). These codes are positionning the artist in the art history.

A axis : FORMALISM
When looking at the work, what type of formalisation first strikes the eye? Is it more abstract or more figurative, etc ? (on a scale from more "immaterial" to more "realist").

A455 : Neo Figurative More or less allegorical representations ("Trans Avant Garde", "Bad Painting", ...)
J.G. Dokoupil, Julian Schnabel, David Salle, Reiner Fetting, Kenny Scharf, Sandro Chia, Francesco Clemente, Enzo Cucchi, Mimo Paladino, ...

A420 : Neo Figurative Near-figurative, linear structures - Flat colours
The simplest style between Naive Art, Folk Art, illustration and comic strip (Gaston Chaissac, V.Brauner, Yvon Taillandier, Eliane Larus, ...). In 2D but also in 3D (Sculptures by J. Dubuffet, Niki de St Phalle, ...).

A460 : Neo Figurative from "Pop Art" to "Neo-Pop"
from the early days of media images and products in art (Richard Lindner, E.Paolozzi, Ed Ruscha, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, ...) up to their current ubiquity (Haïm Steinbach, Jeff Koons, Olivier Blanckart, Marc Dion, Takashi Murakami, Wang Du, ...).

B axis : MATERIALITY
How does the materiality of what is shown come across?
(on a scale from more "immaterial" to more "real").

B190 : Materiality
in painting, but also with all other materials with the following possibilities: Structured lines / flat areas / Drawing
Strong lines bounding coloured areas, or the drawings contained within (R.Indiana, P. Stampfli, V. Adami, H. Télémaque, M. Sanejouand, Aki Kuroda,...).
Or importance of "line" in the drawing (Hans Bellmer, Pierre Klossowski, J.L.Guitard,...).

B200 : Materiality
in painting, but also with all other materials with the following possibilities: Structured with colours predominant
with their intrinsic or symbolic strength, (Monory's "blues", G.Fromanger's "reds") historical or social meaning etc., and their structuring, the colours here are the most important (Jules Olitsky, Peter Halley, ...).

C axis : INVOLVEMENT BODY/ MIND
With what body:mind ratio does the artist enter into his work?
Classify from the most "intellectual" (e.g."Concept Art"...) to the most "physical" (e.g. "Body Art", ...).

C120 : towards the intellectual side/ the essence of things inward looking work chiefly oriented towards: projective
dreams, poetry, lyricism, psychedelic experience … to "project" an inner world (Henri Michaux, Wols, ...).

C140 : towards the intellectual side/ the essence of things inward looking work chiefly oriented towards: fantasmagoric
fantasies of all types, be they sexual, social, religious or any other type, so long as there is formal mastery (from Georgia O'Keeffe to Annette Messager, through Clovis Trouille, ...).

C160 : tending towards the corporeal / the senses via expression with "humanity" (the passage from Life to Death)
- in a literal manner (John de Andrea, Duane Hanson, Itsvan Sandorfi, ...)
- or a symbolic manner (James Ensor, G. Rouault, F. Gruber, Zoran Music, Rebeca Stevenson, Jan Vercruysse, ...), ...

D axis : COMMUNICATION
Does the artist have the deliberate intention to convey a message of any sort through his work?
(classified from the most "mystical" to the most "worldly").

D110 : via what is meant with various spiritual or less marked religious influences
(from Barnett Newman to Mark Rothko, from Roman Opalka to Arnulf Rainer, ...).

D115 : via what is meant in various narrations or symbolisms whatever they may be
allegorical, metaphorical (J. Beuys' "materials", ...), analytical (Mario Merz's "Fibonacci series", or those of Robert Filliou, ...), critical (from Henri Cueco to Hans Haacke or Guillaume Bijl, ...).

Henri PARENT

A fresh look at antique masterpieces.

Horses with wings, fancy pigs, skinny dogs and strange Minotaurs drawn by Philhelm, the belated Monogramist of Strasbourg. We offer to meet with the surrealist painter, a specialist in antiquity.

Our journey begins in a beautiful and pleasant city of Strasbourg, on the banks of Ill and Rhine rivers. It is located in the East of France near the German border. Strasbourg is a famous city, where you can see a great and amazing Gothic Cathedral of the XV century. Philhelm creates his pictures in his studio-gallery not far from the centre of the city. He gives new life to the antique characters and myths.

He knows very well and a lot about the ancient art. His knowledge is vast and varied. Each painting is like a visit to the University Library of Strasbourg. And this Library is the richest in France as regards the materials of archaeology and ancient art. He depicts in his paintings the life of Babylonian, Minoan and Etruscan peoples. Recently he started to draw and present us with ancient Scandinavian peoples. He admires the aesthetics and creativity of works, which we inherited from the ancient worlds.

His works are very graphically, and due to it we can more clearly and volumetrically understand his paintings. His talent and experience allows the people unfamiliar with art and the treasures of the ancient world to meet and enjoy this gift with interest and great pleasure while looking at the composition of the Artist’s paintings. In his paintings you can see reproductions of battles, hunting scenes, myths and ancient gods. All these scenes have been disclosed in various products: vases, bas-reliefs, seals, frescoes, etc. He highlights key nuances and shows the main shapes and colours that were typical for these times. For people, interested in painting, each picture has its own little story.

To create a picture, careful preparation is necessary before the beginning of the main work of creation. After interesting searches the artist defines the right direction. Then comes the magic moment, Philhelm starts creation. Each painting is more than a picture; it is a future work of art.

The periods depicted in the pictures are often painted in bright juicy colours and are often of large format. They are painted on canvas with acrylic paints. Each colour has its own symbol. For example, black can mean a battle and war, red is a symbol of love, yellow represents the world and blue is for the gods. The role of colour and tone is very important for all the work.

When we look at Philhelm pictures, original due to its forms and mythical characters, we have a sense of presence and flight to other worlds similar to dreams.

Similar feelings overwhelm the hearts of Sumerians, Assyrians and representatives of the Etruscans, isn’t it so? Philhelm manages to transfer and help us experience the same feelings as the ancient people had.

Philhelm has survived all secrets of antiquity and myths. This era was rich in talents. But we have Philhelm, the belated Monogramist of Strasbourg, who helps us touch this era and feel all magic of that time looking at his pictures.