Patrick Girod’s work combines the ecstatic effulgence considered endemic to his native France with the strictness and humility associated with Switzerland. Working with oil on canvas in a traditional drip technique, Girod’s meandering compositions match the fanaticism of Pollock with the austerity of the Minimalists. Equally heuristic and playful, Girod’s oil drips appear in modest quantities but act fiercely upon the senses, creating a "neuronal impressionism" reminiscent of music, dance and dream life. Thin, wailing lines come to meet delicate droplets falling in place like cosmic constellations or notes in a swinging musical score. In other instances, we see Girod’s swift stroke take on anthropomorphic qualities, suggesting movement and bodily communication. Form, line and composition take precedence over color, paring the imagery down to a truly sensate decadence wavering between everything, nothing and the void.
Patrick Girod was born in 1957 in Pontarlier, France. Educated in Switzerland, he currently lives and works in Switzerland and France.