Painter of unsettling expression and communicative power, Allan Saint Denis, reveals the moment in which the human being becomes aware of him or herself: an inner awakening that becomes the unavoidable externalization of thoughts and feelings.
A dialogue with one's "I" that becomes an act of purification, a moment of liberation from everyday distractions, magnificently symbolized by the candid sensuality of the naked body, submerged against backdrops of chromatic gradations tending towards midnight blue and black.
Saint Denis’ figures, captured in a moment of deep intimacy and vulnerability, are free from any gender connotation; they move in rarefied environments, which, due to their chromatic value, indicate a suspended and silent state like the vibrations of the soul. One is able to be free inside these primitive environments, rediscovering one’s own identity far from the frenzy of our modern age.
In the artist’s oeuvre, an intimate act is rendered with nuanced sfumato, a metaphorical barrier between the inner and outer realms beyond which one loses any sense of oneself. It is on this conceptual line between the "I" and the world, that one gives visible shape to thoughts and moods. They are written with piercing power and with elusive symbols that vibrate in the colors of the tattoos and in the significance of their indelible permanence on the human body.
With a play of contrasting layers of paint aimed at creating a dichotomy between clarity and sharpness, the artist transforms “beingness” into an indistinct presence, focusing your attention on the expressive power of words and symbols: a code for spiritual awakening that transcends the essence of human materiality, addressed to those observers capable of breaking through the barrier of outward appearance and making their way into the unknown dimension of themselves.
After a long career in Fashion in New York City, Allan Saint Denis attended the New York Academy of Art. He graduated in 2017 and currently resides in Florence Italy where he is pursuing his passion for painting.
