 Jean Francois paints anything - portraits of celebrities,
landmarks, cityscapes, still lifes, reproductions of old masters and planetary
landscapes. He creates these on ten foot canvases in minutes using his hands,
feet, body or anything else that happens to be available. Jean Francois'
improvisations are legendary - the only things he avoids are brushes. His
theatrical presentations use painted optical effects with mechanical illusions
and special effects designed for each performance.
Born in Namur, Belgium, Jean Francois Detaille discovered his passion for art at
an early age. Painting was his father's hobby, and on vacations with his parents
in Spain and the South of France Jean Francois would watch the local artists
create on-the-spot portraits for tourists. In 1975, after a chance meeting in
Figueras, Spain with the flamboyant artist Salvador Dali, Jean Francois realized
that the quiet life of the studio artist was not for him.
In 1976 he enrolled in the Academy of Beaux Art in Belgium - best known as the
school of painters Jan van Eyck, Brueghel, Rubens, Magritte, James Ensor,
Alechinsky and others - to develop his talent along more formal lines. Upon
completion, he enrolled in the Academy des Beaux Arts de Paris, known over the
years as the birthplace of numerous art movements, the base of Academic painters
Messonier and Jean Baptiste Edouard Detaille, and the school of impressionist
painters Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, Jean Francois Millet, Paul Gauguin,
Henri Matisse, cubist Pablo Picasso, surrealist Salvador Dali, conceptual artist
Ben Wautier and performance artist Yves Klein.
Jean Francois' desire for adventure led him to travel widely. In 1982, he packed
his bags and art supplies and traveled around the world on a sailboat, painting
thousands of paintings along the way. The Caribbean, Hawaii and Tahiti were his
new themes and his boat made a perfect studio.
"I always painted in front of an audience to music. In school I was faster than
everybody else", says Jean Francois. Searching for a methodology that would
harness his technical skills and allow a rapid, spontaneous style of work, he
created Extreme Art in the early 1990's. Working with explosive energy and
without preliminary plans or sketches, Jean Francois uses forceful strokes of
vibrant color to fill large canvases in minutes. He explains that working at
this rapid pace opens a more direct channel between the image in his mind and
the motions of his hands, giving the finished work greater immediacy and power.
In 1997 Jean Francois was asked to perform in the show "Madhattan" at the New
York New York Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. That engagement resulted in other
invitations from producers and event planners in several countries. In 2000, he
was named the Spotlight Awards Entertainer of the Year for the special/corporate
event market.
Jean Francois removes painting from the realm of studios and galleries and
transforms it into high-energy public entertainment. His performances combine
comedy and art in a unique show, choreographed to music.
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