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Lifestyles Profile - Patrick Denoun From his studio home in the midst of the jungle hillside at El Nogalito, away from the noise and commotion of Puerto Vallarta, Patrick Denoun paints the “emotional vibrations” of the natural world. Bringing back memories of scenes, people, textures and the play of shadow and light he translates them into his sought-after paintings. Denoun was born in Paris in 1950. He began painting at the age of eight, at 15 he entered a preparatory academy located in the well-known Quartier Latin. At 17 he was one of 160 candidates from over 3000 applicants to gain admittance to the famous French art school Boulle, where he studied many art mediums and went on to earn a degree in wood sculpting. After working as a sculptor for a few years, Denoun decided to return to his inks and paints. He states that, “it has always been important to me as an artist, to express myself with my hands, whether it is sculpture, woodworking, ink drawings or painting”. At about this time he also relocated to Saint Tropez where he began selling his work in art shows and decided to travel to see what the world had to offer. Denoun can tell stories of his travels in India, Thailand, Bali, Morocco and North Africa; of driving motorcycles through the Sahara Desert. Of the United States where he traveled through New Orleans and Florida and where he remembers buying a Cadillac in Alabama. He tells of painting unceasingly even in those early days and of selling his work out of the trunk of the Caddy. In 1976 his travels brought him on an extended journey to Mexico, where he would find him self returning until 1985 when he finally moved to Puerto Vallarta to live and work. From these travels Denoun gains his inspiration, “traveling, working, learning, finding colors, ways of life”. He paints what he calls the “many similarities” of the “natural world” such as the “likeness in lifestyles, the textures of adobe walls, spicy food and skylight.” He is inspired by the “natural and simple things of life” that he discovers on his journeys: women spinning the wool from sheep and transforming it into colorful carpets, native peoples shaping clay pots by hand from the black soil. Villagers high in the mountains, indigenous peoples coming to the markets to sell their fruits, “people who touch the earth” motivate him.“ “People” he states, “are the reason I love Mexico, they are so nice, so friendly.” Denoun says he “prefers to express himself with the ‘Eden’ we have on earth to protect that life, the trees, the plants, the people.” Denoun is preparing for his exposition to be held on February 25, 2000, at Galería Pacífico, where he will present 25 new paintings inspired by his latest journeys. The show, “From North Africa to Central Mexico – Following the Light,” will be the interpretation of these similarities in people, customs and scenes that he discovers in his “learning” the world. Patrick and his wife, Katherine, spend several months a year in Saint Tropez, France, where they also own a home and studio. He exhibits his paintings at Galerie Un in Saint Tropez, a gallery dedicated exclusively to his work. Denoun also has permanent expositions at Café des Artistes restaurant and Galería Pacífico in Puerto Vallarta, Restaurante México in Mexico City, and has yearly international expositions in Geneva, Brussels, Zurich, Bale, Paris, Lyon and Lugano. During the last twenty years he has also had personal and collective expositions of his works at galleries throughout France, the United States, Sydney, Australia, and Goa, India.

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