Damien Deroubaix is a multimedia artist whose body of work has come to include painting, works on paper, lithography, sculpture and installation. The origin of his pictorial language can be found in German expressionism. A dark palette and a vigorous brushstroke are used to produce vivid images laden with symbolism. In his works, he weaves together elements from vastly different contexts such as nazi Germany, metal rock, history of art and biblical parables into idiosyncratic narratives bathed in a “fin de siècle” atmosphere. These narratives are not unilateral in meaning but the multifaceted aspect of its elements leave them open to interpretation. Deroubaix is fond of repeating some elements from one work to the next and mixing his different techniques within a single work, often collating a lithograph inside a painting for instance. In so doing, Deroubaix not only multiplies the associations of individual elements but also creates a kind of individual mythology that establishes itself through repetition, a muted critique of society and a cautionary tale for the viewer. Their sombre atmosphere and menacing subjects are a bleak mirror that undermine and subvert contemporary values. Notwithstanding an artistic technique that is firmly rooted in the Western tradition, numerous references to modern art history are scattered throughout the works helping them to be a contextualized in a larger cultural framework.
Born 1972 in Lille, France, Deroubaix lives and works in Meisenthal and Paris, France. His work was the object of solo shows at the Bibliotheque Nationale Paris, the Musee d’Art Moderne et Contemporain de Saint Etienne and the Kunstmuseum Reutlingen. It was also featured in group shows at the Kunstmuseum St Gallen, the Centre Pompidou-Metz and a the Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton.