SIDNEY MENKES
The Children in Nature Series ROBERT BERNIER – Parcours Magazine Spring 2013 vol. 17, no. 1 Translated from the french by Stéphanie Duval
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n encounter with Sidney Menkes is unforgettable. As soon as his workshop’s door is opened, we enter a singular, unusual and baroque world. It is strange for sure. The entire space, shelves and even the ceiling are filled with life-sized gorillas, lamps decorated with chimpanzees, dressed up mannequins, antique toys and kites, as if we were visiting Baron de Münchhausen or Dr. Dolittle. You guessed correctly, Sidney Menkes is quite a character, strong as well as sympathetic, and a painter of great talent who draws his inspiration from a powerful universe in a fantastic realism where the child is the center. It is the theme of his paintings which will be exhibited at Galerie Valentin in April: playful situations with children in natural settings imbued with stories or fairy tales. In the end, it is not one or the other, it is a fusion of the two. All the pictures are painted on round or oval canvases which give both an unusual and a familiar impression. It is probably because this way of presenting the subject, in a central manner, is the same as our way of looking at things in everyday life. His technique is dainty and delicate, the elements are detailed without excess and the artist manages to create an interpretation for each of his work of art. An intense moment of beauty and fullness bathed in a tiny bit of nostalgia. Menkes uses a pictorial approach that appears to come from a different era, as if time was suspended. It is as mysterious as satisfactory. Tranquil. Sidney Menkes is in some way a fabulous illusionist, an artistic acrobat. His paintings seem antique but his subjects are from our time. Of course, he goes into enough details, though without excess, and some elements are painted with more freedom that it appears at first sight. One thing is certain, take your time to enjoy every canvas, but do not fear, the fun part is only just beginning!
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